Sudbury Bookkeeper Embezzled $180K From Interior Design Firm: Feds

SUDBURY, MA — A Sudbury bookkeeper has pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges alleging that she embezzled more than $180,000 from her former employer, according to prosecutors.

Christina Iannelli, 51, of Sudbury, pleaded guilty to seven counts of bank fraud.

Iannelli was an independent contractor for an interior design firm based in Lexington. Beginning in October 2018, prosecutors claim Iannelli "prepared dozens of fraudulent invoices with inflated totals derived from inaccurate math, and then issued herself checks for the inflated amounts due from the firm’s checking account."

Then beginning in July 2019, Iannelli issued herself dozens of additional unauthorized checks. Iannelli used a signature stamp in the name of the firm’s owner to issue the fraudulent checks in both instances, according to prosecutors.

She is accused of making false entries in the firm's accounting records to conceal the fraud. Iannelli embezzled more than $30,000 through inflated compensation checks and more than $150,000 through additional unauthorized checks, prosecutors said.

She was arrested and charged in March 2022. She is scheduled for sentencing March 14, 2024.

The charge of bank fraud has a maximum prison term of 30 years with five years of supervised release, and a fine of $1 million.