Plea Entered In Million-Dollar Stamford Fraud Case: U.S. Attorney

STAMFORD, CT — A 31-year-old Stamford woman pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to one count of wire fraud stemming from a million-dollar embezzlement scheme at the company where she used to work, according to United States Attorney John H. Durham.

Candace Rispoli was employed by Lodestone Management Consultants, later known as Infosys Consulting, from January 2012 to June 2016, but beginning in 2013, she allegedly embezzled over $1 million from the company, according to court documents and prosecutors.

Rispoli worked for the consulting company from her former home in East Haven, which she shared with her then-boyfriend, Michael Miano, and during the period she had an American Express credit card to use "to pay for travel, entertainment and other business expenses incurred by the Company’s employees and potential employees."

From 2013 until July 2016, Rispoli made more than $250,000 worth of fraudulent charges on the card for hers and Miano’s personal expenses. Additionally, Rispoli also illegally transferred more than $800,000 in funds from the company’s American Express card to PayPal and Venmo accounts she and Milano controlled.

"To conceal her scheme, Rispoli altered the Company’s American Express account statements and created false billing summaries, which she emailed to the Company’s accounting firm," according to Durham.

In pleading guilty, Rispoli has agreed to pay $1,098,176 in restitution.

The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum prison term of 20 years, and Rispoli is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. She is currently free on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.

In September of last year, Branford resident Miano, also 31, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to this scheme, and he awaits sentencing.

This investigation has been conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heather Cherry and Jonathan Francis.

Image via Shutterstock

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