From the U.S. Attorney:
FORMER PARALEGAL FOR CHICAGO-AREA COMPANY SENTENCED IN FEDERAL COURT FOR $100,000 EMBEZZLEMENT SCHEME
CHICAGO — A former paralegal for a Chicago-area company has been sentenced in federal court for embezzling nearly $100,000 from the company.
As part of her paralegal duties, NAKESHA DAVIS facilitated payments from the company to former employees with whom the company had entered into settlement agreements.
Davis created and submitted false approvals from managers in the company’s legal department purporting to approve settlement payments to certain former employees.
Davis knew, however, that those former employees either did not have a settlement agreement with the company or, if they did, the amount of the settlement was different than the amount specified in Davis’s submissions.
Davis supplied the company’s payroll department with her own bank account information in place of the former employee’s information, causing the company to issue the settlement payments directly to Davis.
In total, Davis caused the company to fraudulently issue her $99,905.17.
Davis, 46, of South Holland, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah sentenced Davis to six months of home confinement as part of a two-year term of probation. Judge Shah also ordered Davis to pay restitution to the company in the amount of $99,905.17.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hayley Altabef.
