Rosalba Meza, the controller for two plumbing companies, was arrested for embezzling more than 3 million dollars.
From 2017 through 2019, Meza made unauthorized transfers from company bank accounts into personal bank accounts totaling $3,071,880. In February 2019 Meza told company executives they did not have funds to meet payroll, but failed to disclose that her embezzlement was the cause of the shortfall. Later that same year, when the companies were facing enforcement action from the IRS due to the unpaid payroll taxes, she told the executives that she did not pay the payroll taxes because she had used the funds to pay employees.
Meza used the stolen funds to make $292,137 in cash withdrawals at bank branches, and more than a million dollars at ATMs in the United States and Mexico. She also wired $870,209 to bank accounts in Mexico owned by family members and another $250,000 in transfers to other family members and friends. She failed to report any of the stolen funds on her income tax returns.
Meza faces restitution, fines and a maximum prison sentence of up to 30 years
