A Malden woman was arrested and charged recently in connection with a bank fraud scheme to embezzle more than $795,000 from her employer.
Kayla Figelski, 32, was charged in federal court in Boston on Dec. 19 with one count of bank fraud. She was released on conditions, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
As alleged in the criminal complaint, Figelski stole at least $795,000 between April 2017 and June 2019 from her employer, a law firm in Malden. Figelski allegedly forged checks to herself from her employer’s checking accounts, including conservatorship and trust accounts her employer maintained for its elderly clients and their estates, and deposited the checks into her own account.
She then allegedly withdrew funds from the account or directly cashed the checks. To hide her scheme, Figelski allegedly modified bank statements to make it appear that the checks were written out to legitimate vendors rather than to Figelski.
The charge of bank fraud provides a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million.