Wednesday, February 25, 2015

California Woman Sought In $1.86 Million Embezzlement; Used Alias To Originally Get Job

From the Orange County Register on 2/20/2015:

The FBI is searching for a fugitive accused of embezzling $1.86 million from her employer under a false name last year, the agency said in a criminal complaint file Feb. 11.

From May 2013 to September 2014, investigators said Alma Edith Letona, using the name Olga Figueroa, used her position as a payroll tax account at Roth Staffing Companies in Orange to divert company funds into a personal bank account.

Most of the deposit amounts were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the complaint said. Letona used the stolen money to purchase two Lake Forest properties - one in her own name. The United States Attorney's Office has since filed to take control of the properties.

Letona was employed at Roth from March 2013 to October 2014. She was fired because of attendance and time card issues, the complaint said.

Two months after being let go, the company discovered 10 unauthorized wire transfers made to a Bank of America account in the name of Roth's third-party payroll processing service.

Letona opened the account in September 2014 under Andrea Elizabeth Letona, and put herself as the signatory.

In addition, she took 200 checks intended for employees hired by Roth and deposited them into a Navy Federal Credit Union account. The checks were eventually reissued to the right employees.

Investigators found out Letona's real name after examining a personal check she provided Roth for direct deposit information. Her real name was scratched out, and the false name was handwritten above. Examining the check under a light revealed the scratched-out name.

Letona's alias include Olga Iris Figueroa, Alma Olga Iris Manjama and Olga Iris Manjang.

Anyone with information as to Letona's whereabouts should contact the FBI at 714-939-8699.