A Stamford Connecticut woman was sentenced to one year in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from her job as a consultant in order to fund her and her then boyfriend’s extravagant life style. The embezzlement went unnoticed until her employer found suspicious charges while preparing her severance following a layoff.
The former Lodestone Management Consultants’ employee used her company credit card to reallocate funds spending $250,000 on hotels, rental cars, airline tickets, meals, as well as t-shirts to promote her cousin who won American Idol in 2015. She transferred more than $800,000 in funds from the company’s American Express card to PayPal and Venmo accounts controlled by her and her then boyfriend. To conceal the scheme she altered the company’s American Express account statements and generated fictitious billing summaries to send to her firm.
The 32 year old claims she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from being a witness in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and that her condition causes her to be “detached” and less mindful of the crime that she committed; prosecutors stated her efforts to masquerade her misconduct were too scrupulous to make such a claim believable. She pleaded guilty and has been detained since May 13th when her bond was revoked.
Prevent This From Happening to YOU!
Credit cards are a fact of life in the business world today. They can be used to streamline purchases and minimize the need for cash or cash advances. They reduce transaction time and reduce the volume of paperwork and costs associated with it for your company. But because credit cards are almost as liquid as cash, they are subject to theft or abuse. A few recommended safeguards can be put into place to reduce your company’s risk of theft:
- limit the number of credit cards and authorized credit card users.
- establish credit limits to limit your exposure. Be sure to review your users and their needs.
- subscribe to credit card company alerts.
- communicate your company’s policies pertaining to credit cards. Make it clear that the organization’s credit card is for company use only and that fraud will not be tolerated.
- receive credit card statements intact and review them. Credit Card statements can be altered or edited.
- insist on original receipts only.
Let employees know that you are monitoring all credit card activity closely, this will help reduce the threat of credit card fraud.
Make Sure Your Clients Take a Proactive Approach To Protecting Their Business Should a Loss Occur
Make sure your clients have crime insurance. Take the steps to ensure that your clients are covered by calling one of the Berkley Crime team members listed below.
Sincerely,
Michael Beranek
Berkley Crime
Experts focused on your protection.
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