Bergen County Resident Charged With Defrauding Watch Manufacturer Out Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars

Two former employees of a Bergen County watch manufacturer could be sentenced to 20 years in prison for defrauding their employers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of watches and parts, authorities announced.

Lissette Delarosa, 36, of Woodland Park, and Cynthia Espejo, 49, of Kissimmee, Florida were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

From May 2003 to July 2010, Espejo and Delarosa had dozens of “replacement” watches mailed to them by creating fake customer complaints in their company’s invoice system, authorities said.

They also created hundreds of fictitious invoices for watch parts and directed those parts to be sent to addresses “associated with Espejo, Delarosa, and others,” Fishman said.

As an example, Delarosa would receive a request in her personal e-mail for watch parts from someone who made “multiple deposits” into Espejo’s personal bank account, Fishman said. Delarosa would create a fraudulent invoice to have watch parts sent to the person through Federal Express. Delarosa wrote “NC,” for “no charge” on the invoice.

Conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the amount of loss caused by the offense.

Fishman credited personnel with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with conducting the investigation.

Delarosa was scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon in Newark federal court. Espejo was scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karla R. Spaulding in Florida.