Southington Bookkeeper Indicted In $300K Embezzlement Case

SOUTHINGTON, CT — A potential 150-year prison sentence is in the balance in a six-figure embezzlement case involving a Southington bookkeeper, federal authorities said.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut and Brian C. Turner, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned a five-count indictment alleging that Lydia Cabrera, 36, of Southington, re-directed funds from her employer to herself.

The indictment was handed down pn Feb. 27 and released Monday.

According to the indictment and statements made in court, from approximately August 2016 to August 2018, Cabrera was employed by A2Z Home Medical Supplies as a bookkeeper. In that role, Cabrera was given access to A2Z’s online merchant payment system, Durham said.

About 10 days after being hired by A2Z, Cabrera began to use A2Z’s online merchant payment system to steal from the company by falsely representing that customers of A2Z had sought a return of their funds, according to the indictment.

On more than 200 occasions, Cabrera entered her personal debit card information for the refunds and, through the scheme, Cabrera embezzled approximately $370,000, according to the indictment.

Cabrera was arrested on March 1. Following her arrest, she appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford and was ordered detained, Durham said.

The indictment charges Cabrera with five counts of bank fraud, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 30 years on each count.

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