A Springfield woman accused of embezzling more than $250,000 from her employer pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court today (Thursday).
Jennifer Giorffino, 53, faces up to 20 years in prison after misappropriating the funds from her employer, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced, identifying the organization only as one “dedicated to accounting for prisoners of war.”
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Giorffino was one of only two employees who had access to the organization’s bank accounts, and she used that power to make hundreds of unauthorized personal payments — purchases from retailers, plus payments to her husband’s bank account.
From October 2023 through April 2024, Giorffino sought approval for loans and lines of credit 78 times, prosecutors said. Many of the credit lines were through retailers, such as Lane Bryant, Kohls, TJ Maxx and LL Bean.
“Giorffino used one of the fraudulently-opened credit cards to make $36,278.29 in purchases,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “Giorffino paid off the credit cards every month until April 2024 using the organization’s bank accounts.”
In February, Giorffino began to direct online donations to her employer to a fraudulent checking account she opened in the organization’s name. When the organization’s bank accounts were nearly depleted, she began to falsify bank statements, misrepresenting the status of the organization’s funds by nearly $200,000, prosecutors said.
Giorffino’s activities were discovered around March 2024 after the chairman for her employer had a credit card declined at a restaurant, according to the press release.
“At an April 2024 board meeting, Giorffino provided the Board falsified bank statements showing that the organization’s accounts had approximately $206,000 when the actual account balance was only $10,000,” the release said. “In total, Giorffino misappropriated approximately $257,259 from the organization and the organization’s bank accounts.”
Giorffino will be sentenced on March 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Photo via Wesley Tingey/Unsplash
