FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, March 4, 2022

Maryland Woman Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Embezzling Over $230,000 from Employer

Defendant Carried Out Crimes for Nearly Two Years

            WASHINGTON – Aurelia Stanton, 40, of Baltimore, Maryland, and formerly of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from her former employer.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division Wayne A. Jacobs.

            Stanton pleaded guilty in September 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to bank fraud. She was sentenced by the Honorable Trevor N. McFadden. Following her prison term, she will be placed on five years of supervised release. She also must pay about $233,000 in restitution and an identical amount in a forfeiture money judgment.

            According to the government’s evidence, 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 sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves 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, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.