FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 14, 2009
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MA
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WOMAN WHO EMBEZZLED $1.3 MILLION SENTENCED TO PRISON
BOSTON, MA - A South Boston woman was sentenced late last week in federal court for embezzling $1.3 million from clients of an investment advisory firm in Boston.
Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Boston Field Office, announced today that RITA WHITE, age 41, of South Boston, Massachusetts, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf to 2 years imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine. Chief Judge Wolf also ordered WHITE to pay $1,333,340 in restitution and entered an order of forfeiture of the same amount. WHITE pled guilty on May 22, 2007 to three counts of mail fraud in connection with her embezzlement scheme.
At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial the Government’s evidence would have proven that from December 1996 through March 2005, WHITE worked as an administrative assistant at an investment advisory firm in Boston, Massachusetts. Among the services the firm provided was bill paying and bookkeeping for its clients. One of WHITE’s duties at the firm was to write checks on behalf of the clients and then deliver the funds to the clients’ various creditors. In the course of her duties WHITE had access to the clients’ blank checks. From late 1999 through March 2005, WHITE wrote checks from certain clients’ accounts to pay WHITE’s own personal expenses. WHITE used the client funds to purchase a vacation home in Maine, large quantities of jewelry, expensive clothing, trips overseas and other luxury items.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Boston Field Office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office would also like to thank the Boston District Office of the Securities Exchange Commission for its assistance. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack W. Pirozzolo of Loucks’ Economic Crimes Unit.
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