Yonkers Woman, 51, Enters Plea in $772,000 Fraud Case: U.S. Attorney

STAMFORD, CT — Yonkers, NY resident Rosemarie Collazo, 51, waived her right to indictment and pleaded guilty Friday to one count of wire fraud in connection with her theft of more than $772,000 from her former Stamford employer, announced United States Attorney Deirdre M. Daly.

Collazo worked for Abbey National Treasury Services, PLC, where she assisted in arranging for payments to vendors and others, according to Daly:

Collazo collected invoices as they came into the company and presented the collected invoices to her supervisor to approve payment. Her supervisor then reviewed the items and signed off on the payments. Collazo then entered the payment information into the company’s accounts payable program, which generated payment checks. Next, Collazo created packets that included the invoice, an authorization form and the payment check related to the specific invoice. After the packets had been reviewed and the appropriate signatures obtained from her supervisors, Collazo mailed the checks to vendors.

Between 2010 and 2016, Collazo "prepared 144 fraudulent duplicate invoice packages and submitted an equivalent number of checks for authorizing signatures for payments that she knew had already been processed and paid," according to Daly.

She then deposited those checks into her personal bank account.

In addition, on at least three other occasions, Collazo misappropriated a vendor refund check that had been sent to the company, and endorsed the check for deposit into her personal bank account.

Over all those years, Collazo stole $772,242, according to Daly.

Collazo is scheduled for sentencing on April 14, at which time she faces a maximum prison term of 20 years.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Greenwich Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.

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