Boston-area woman charged and agrees to plead guilty to embezzling more than $1.3M

Date: Aug. 22, 2024

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BOSTON - The former bookkeeper of a Falmouth flooring company has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty in connection with embezzling more than $1.3 million from her employer.

Susan Figuerido, of Falmouth, was charged with wire fraud and filing a false tax return. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.

According to the charging documents, between June 2015 and February 2023, Figuerido embezzled more than $1.3 million from her employer by writing checks to herself drawn on her employer's bank account. To conceal her scheme, Figuerido allegedly did not record the checks that she wrote to herself in her employer's accounting system. It is further alleged that Figuerido did not report or include the funds that she embezzled on her federal income tax filings, resulting in a tax loss of approximately $353,000.

The charge of wire fraud provides a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. The charge of filing a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Harry T. Chavis Jr., Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) in Boston; and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, made the announcement today. The Falmouth Police Department provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.