Bergen Accountant Charged With Stealing $900K From Employer

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Bergenfield woman was arrested Thursday on charges she defrauded her employer out of about $900,000, authorities announced.

Violetta McGough, 55, was charged with wire fraud. U.S. Postal Inspectors and criminal investigators arrested McGough at her home Thursday morning, acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said.

From 2008 through October 2015, McGough allegedly made several fraudulent entries to steal funds that her employer, which authorities did not identify, collected as insurance premiums, Fitzpatrick said.

McGough accessed the company's books to divert part of those payments for her own personal use, the attorney said. She hid the stolen money as funds reimbursed premiums for cancelled policies, Fitzpatrick said.

She had the company produce checks payable to someone identified in the federal complaint as "individual-1," who supposedly worked for a premium financing company, Fitzpatrick said.

McGough deposited the checks into "individual-1's" bank account and the majority of the money were put back into McGough's bank account, Fitzpatrick said.

McGough faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

McGough was scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark federal court.

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