Fake Invoices Used To Steal $1M From Chevy Chase Financial Firm

GERMANTOWN, MD — A Germantown woman was sentenced to federal prison Thursday for defrauding her employer of more than $1 million using fake invoices, authorities say. Sobeida Maria Laboy, 47, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for bank fraud arising from a scheme to defraud the financial institution for which she worked of more than $1 million, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office. Laboy was also ordered to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss to the victims.

According to her plea agreement, Laboy worked in the Chevy Chase branch office of a financial institution that offered online banking services to its customers and had affiliates that offered homes loans and other financial services. Authorities have not released the name of the business.

Laboy admitted that from December 2007 through June 19, 2014, she created fraudulent invoices, which she submitted, along with check requests, for payment by her employer. Laboy submitted the phony invoices along with a check request form, stating that the check should be sent to her at her office in Chevy Chase. Laboy forged the signature of another employee in the “approval” section of the form. Instead of sending the checks for payment to the vendor, Laboy endorsed the checks with her own signature and deposited them into her personal bank accounts.

Over the course of the scheme, Laboy deposited at least 60 checks issued by her employer and made payable to the vendor. Laboy deposited at least six additional checks either issued by her employer and made payable to other vendors, or issued by other vendors and made payable to her employer. As a result of the scheme, Laboy fraudulently obtained at least $1,020,576.28, prosecutors said.

Image via Shutterstock