A former Plantation bookkeeper has been sentenced to 51 months in federal jail for orchestrating a multi-year embezzlement scheme that siphoned almost $9.8 million from her employer, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of Florida introduced on Thursday.
Hava Yfrah Austin, 58, obtained the sentence on September 15 from Chief U.S. District Choose Cecilia M. Altonaga, who additionally ordered forfeiture and restitution. Austin beforehand pleaded responsible to wire fraud and submitting a false earnings tax return after failing to report the stolen funds on her tax filings.
In accordance with courtroom information, Austin owned and operated Accounting Options Immediately, P.A., a bookkeeping and tax providers agency in Broward County, whereas serving because the long-time bookkeeper for the sufferer firm, the place she had signature authority over its financial institution accounts. From 2018 by means of April 2024, she executed unauthorized wire transfers from the corporate’s accounts to her personal enterprise, utilizing a lot of the stolen cash to gamble at native casinos and thru on-line gaming platforms.
To cover the theft, Austin falsified accounting entries, creating fraudulent vendor names much like authentic ones to keep away from detection.
“This defendant betrayed the belief positioned in her, stole almost $10 million, and gambled it away,” stated U.S. Lawyer Jason A. Reding Quiñones. IRS Prison Investigation (IRS-CI) Particular Agent in Cost Emmanuel Gomez added that Austin had even booked a one-way ticket abroad earlier than being caught. “Because of our complicated monetary investigation, the one one-way journey she’s taking is straight to jail,” he stated.
The case was investigated by IRS-CI.
