Maryland Woman Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

            WASHINGTON – Aurelia Stanton, 39, of Baltimore, Maryland, and formerly of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from her former employer, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division Wayne A. Jacobs.

            Stanton pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to one count of bank fraud. The Honorable Trevor N. McFadden scheduled her sentencing for Dec. 10, 2021. Under federal sentencing guidelines, she faces a likely range of 27 to 46 months in prison, as well as financial penalties. She also has agreed to pay about $233,000 in restitution. She also has agreed to pay an identical amount in a forfeiture money judgment.

            Stanton worked as an office manager from approximately June 2014 through May 2017 for a business, identified in court documents as “Company A.” She was responsible for ensuring timely payment of bills and invoices, accurate bookkeeping, and managing the office. From August 2015 through May 2017, according to court documents, she embezzled more than $233,000 writing checks to herself on the company’s check stock. She used a computer software program to conceal the fraudulent disbursements by editing the company’s bank statements to remove references to the fraudulently drafted, forged, and negotiated checks. In total, she deposited 187 checks with forged signatures.

            In announcing the guilty plea, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips and Special Agent in Charge Jacobs commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including former Paralegal Specialists Brittany Phillips and Jessica Mundi. Finally, they commended the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Derrick Williams, who investigated and indicted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman.