Former Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge In Theft of Over $100,000 From Employer

            WASHINGTON – Naimah Sillah, who worked as the office manager for a Washington-based law firm, pled guilty today to a federal charge involving the embezzlement of over $100,000 from the employer, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.

            Sillah, 40, of Forestville, Md., pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. The Honorable Amy Berman Jackson scheduled sentencing for Feb. 2, 2017. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Sillah faces a likely range of 10 to 16 months in prison and a fine of up to $30,000. She also has agreed to pay $103,811 in restitution and an identical amount in a forfeiture money judgment.

            According to the government’s evidence, Sillah was hired by the law firm in July 2008. Her responsibilities included processing and managing accounts payables, utilizing accounting software, entering vendor invoices into the software, and drafting the law firm’s checks and mailing them to vendors. From at least March 2009 and through January 2014, Sillah embezzled a total of $103,811 from the law firm’s bank account. She wrote unauthorized checks to herself and steered additional money to two businesses that she created as part of the scheme. One of the businesses she created was almost identical in name to a vendor that the law firm had used on a regular basis for years; the law firm’s owners signed checks unaware that they were not going to the usual vendor. Sillah used the proceeds of her crimes for her own personal use and benefit.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who worked on the matter for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Lucas, who handled forfeiture issues, Paralegal Specialists Kaitlyn Krueger and Jessica Mundi and Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Howie, who prosecuted the case.