Westfield Man Pleads Guilty Of Embezzling $1.5M From National Law Firm, Tax Evasion

WESTFIELD, NJ — A Westfield man and former Chief Financial Officer of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP (the “McElroy Law Firm”), a national law firm based in New Jersey, pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and tax evasion, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) announced.

John Dunlea, 61, of Westfield, pleaded guilty on Thursday to an accusation charging him with two counts of theft by deception (second-degree) and five counts of failure to pay taxes (third-degree) before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Taylor in Morris County.

Dunlea had previously been charged in February.

Between January 2017 and December 2022, Dunlea admitted to misappropriating $1,538,221 from the law firm by paying himself unauthorized excess compensation totaling $1,182,965.

Additionally, Dunlea admitted he had the law firm pay credit card expenses totaling $355,256, claiming they were business expenses, when, in fact, they were personal expenses, including for international and domestic airline flights, hotels, and restaurants for himself and his family.

Dunlea also admitted to evading the payment of income tax totaling $22,568 to the State for the tax years 2018 through 2022, for income derived from the credit card scheme.

Under the plea agreement, the State will recommend that Dunlea be sentenced to five years in state prison and required to pay restitution to the McElroy Law Firm and the State of New Jersey, Division of Taxation.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 14.

"The defendant in this case has admitted giving himself a staggering, unauthorized, and illegal seven-figure pay raise, and treating himself and his family, at his employer's expense, to travel, hotels, and dining out, without his employer's consent," said Platkin. "Individuals who exploit positions of trust to commit financial fraud will be held accountable."

"Dunlea has now admitted in court to tax evasion and to stealing more than $1.5 million from a national law firm, where he served as a trusted, high-level executive for several years," said Legal Chief Pablo Quiñones of the Office of Securities Fraud and Financial Crimes Prosecutions. "His guilty plea should send a strong message to white-collar fraudsters that this Office will diligently investigate and prosecute substantial financial fraud and those who break the law will be held to account for their crimes."

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