.jpg "A woman stole $1.5 million from her boss as a company’s chief financial officer in Connecticut, feds say.")
A woman stole $1.5 million from her manager as a company’s main economic officer in Connecticut, feds say.
Giorgio Trovato via Unsplash
A company’s chief financial officer was caught stealing more than $1.5 million from her boss’ bank accounts — after she already splurged on trips to Barcelona, Italy and London, court documents show.
But that’s not even half of what the woman spent using the Connecticut company’s stolen money, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
The 50-year-old Fairfield woman is accused of continuing to steal from her bosses while making more than $200,000 per year until they confronted and fired her in February 2021.
However, this didn’t stop her from withdrawing nearly $29,000 worth of stolen cash from her bank account four days after her firing, according to a sentencing memo.
A judge sentenced the woman on Feb. 8 to two years in federal prison and ordered her to pay back the financial services company based in Shelton, the attorney’s office announced in a news release.
She previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August and has already paid back $400,000, prosecutors said.
McClatchy News contacted the woman’s attorney on Feb. 9 and didn’t immediately receive a response.
European vacations, home renovations and more
As the company’s chief financial officer, the woman had access to her boss’ bank accounts and could carry out financial transactions such as moving the company’s money to other accounts, according to prosecutors.
From January 2019 until February 2021, the company didn’t realize the woman was transferring her company’s money to her credit cards and personal bank accounts, officials said.
She used hundreds of thousands of dollars to fully pay off the balance of her 30-year mortgage by May 2020 — 21 years earlier than expected, according to the sentencing memo.
After officially owning the home by paying off the mortgage, she paid for extensive home renovations and improvements, including on an irrigation system, security system, hot tub and furniture, the sentencing memo shows.
An investigation revealed more than $80,000 worth of checks were used toward upgrading her home, according to the sentencing memo.
Additionally, she took her family on vacations to Europe and the U.K., and spent thousands on ski trips, officials said.
In December 2020, she used nearly $80,000 to buy a timeshare condo at a Vermont ski resort, according to the sentencing memo. This is the same year she received a $75,000 bonus from her job, prosecutors said.
The woman also spent the money to finance her children’s college education, invest in her retirement, buy a new $81,400 Audi and $6,500 Vespa scooter, buy jewelry and more, the sentencing memo shows.
Before she started stealing from her employer, her monthly credit card bills were less than $5,000 a month, according to the sentencing memo. Over the course of her scheme, her credit card bills were about $20,000 to $30,000 a month, according to prosecutors.
Ahead of her sentencing, the woman’s attorney argued against a sentence of prison time, writing that her family and children need her as a caretaker and for financial support, and that the woman has no prior criminal history.
However, prosecutors said “a sentence of incarceration is just for a crime of this magnitude.”
.jpg "Woman steals .5M from boss, splurges on vacations: feds")
Julia Marnin is a McClatchy Nationwide True-Time reporter covering the southeast and northeast whilst dependent in New York. She’s an alumna of The University of New Jersey and joined McClatchy in 2021. Previously, she’s created for Newsweek, Contemporary Luxury, Gannett and much more.
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