Orleans Parish Woman Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that SHAVONDA CHAMBERS, age 43, of New Orleans, Louisiana pleaded guilty on May 14, 2024, before the Honorable Susie Morgan, U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Louisiana, to defrauding her prior employer.  Sentencing is set for September 10, 2024.

According to documents filed in federal court, SHAVONDA CHAMBERS was employed as a bookkeeper for a local business and was apprehended submitting false electronic payroll authorizations to an out-of-state payroll processing company.  As a result of her false submissions, CHAMBERS was able to steal and fraudulently divert more than $2.5 million dollars from her employer to financial accounts she controlled.

The maximum penalty for the offense is twenty years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000 or the greater of twice the gross gain to the defendant or twice the gross loss to the victim followed by up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of one hundred dollars. 

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Secret Service in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney Richard R. Pickens, II of the Financial Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.