NORFOLK, Va. (WKRN) — Courtney Johnson-Gregory, 47, a former payroll manager for a security services company in Norfolk, pleaded guilty to embezzling $419,210 from her employer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today.
Johnson-Gregory worked at the company from 2022 to 2023, during which her position granted her access to company bank accounts and allowed her to manipulate the payroll system. In February 2023, a routine review of the payroll system revealed discrepancies in the company’s check sequence. Further investigation uncovered hundreds of unrecorded checks issued to inactive employees, raising suspicions of fraudulent activity.
Upon reviewing banking records and payroll system logs, it was revealed that Johnson-Gregory had made unauthorized changes to the routing and account numbers for direct deposit payments linked to former employees. Using her assigned login credentials, she reactivated employee profiles and deleted payment records after transferring funds to her personal bank account, hiding the illegal activity.
Between February 2022 and February 2023, Johnson-Gregory made more than 100 transfers from company accounts to her own and conducted hundreds of unauthorized electronic transfers, stealing $136,145.68 through physical checks and $283,064.62 through unauthorized ACH transfers.
Johnson-Gregory is scheduled to be sentenced on September 5, 2025. She faces up to 20 years in prison for her role in the embezzlement scheme.
