Fairfield Woman Embezzled $1.5 Million From Employer: U.S. Attorney

FAIRFIELD, CT — A 49-year-old Fairfield woman waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty Tuesday to a fraud charge related to her embezzlement of approximately $1.5 million from her Shelton-based employer, United States Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery announced.

Carolina Guerreno pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to one count of wire fraud; the offense carries a potential maximum prison term of five years when Shea sentences her in late November.

According to court documents and statements made, Guerreno was the Chief Financial Officer of an unnamed financial services company in Shelton. As part of her job responsibilities, she had access to the company's bank accounts and was allowed to initiate financial transactions, including wiring company funds to other bank accounts.

From January 2019 and continuing until February 2021, when her fraud was detected by the company, Guerreno stole $1,532,207.24 by altering company financial transactions and directing electronic payments from her employer's bank account to:

• her credit card accounts
• her personal bank accounts
• her home equity line of credit

Additional details about the case were not disclosed.

Guerreno is currently free on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Wallingford Police Department and the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.