Paula Sue Leventhal, 64, of Centerville, Virginia, pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Wednesday, admitting to the embezzlement of $550,000 from her employer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Leventhal had served as the chief executive secretary to the CEO of a farmer-owned cooperative headquartered in Herndon. Her duties included organizing travel for cooperative executives and using company-issued credit cards to make bookings, often through travel websites.
On Nov. 30, 2015, Leventhal set up a merchant account on Square, a popular point-of-sale platform for small businesses. From December 2015 to July 2022, she used cooperative-issued credit cards to charge fraudulent transactions, transferring funds to herself via Square.
To cover her tracks, Leventhal altered the merchant name associated with her Square account to make the charges appear as legitimate business expenses on the cooperative’s bank statements. She frequently changed the merchant’s name to resemble well-known travel providers and other legitimate companies.
After the fraudulent funds were transferred to her Square account, Leventhal moved the money to her personal bank accounts. Over the course of nearly seven years, she fraudulently charged 506 transactions, totaling $550,000, which was transferred in 373 increments into her accounts.
Leventhal is scheduled for sentencing on May 28 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for her role in the fraud scheme.
