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Press Release

Ex-Metlife Employee Pleads Guilty In Phony Expense Scheme

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
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BOSTON - A former employee of MetLife, the New York-based insurance company, pleaded guilty today to defrauding the company of more than a quarter of a million dollars by submitting bogus expense reports.

Meredith Mandracchia, 32, of Brighton, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. The statutory maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. United States Senior District Judge Mark L. Wolf scheduled sentencing for May 2, 2014.

From 2005 until 2010, Mandracchia, a former senior marketing consultant for MetLife, charged a wide variety of personal expenses to her corporate American Express card, including purchases at retailers such as Banana Republic, J. Crew, and Victoria’s Secret; payments to tanning salons, nail salons and grocery stores; and numerous calls to psychic hotlines. Mandracchia then fabricated invoices from legitimate MetLife vendors for conference sponsorships, membership fees, and other charges, prompting the company to make payments to Mandracchia’s corporate American Express account. In fact, however, those payments simply satisfied Mandracchia’s personal charges. In addition, Mandracchia submitted fabricated invoices for company expenses she claimed to have charged to her personal credit card, causing the company to reimburse her directly for those fake charges. The loss to MetLife totaled $230,000.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Kevin Niland, Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Frank of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

Updated December 15, 2014