An Atlanta accountant pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud after she created a fake employee and used the fictional person to embezzle more than $1.5 million from her employer for six years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Stantisha Kemp, 40, worked as an account manager for a medical development company, simply referred to as “the Company” in court records, where she managed payroll, according to a Nov. 20 indictment obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“For several years, Kemp took advantage of her position of managing the company’s payroll,” David J. LeValley of FBI Atlanta said. “Her guilty plea should send a message that no matter your position, you cannot profit illegally, or violate the trust of the company who hires you.”
Kemp’s embezzlement scheme began in 2007 with her falsifying payroll records sent to a third-party processing company, which unknowingly deposited funds into her personal bank account each month. The plan intensified in 2010 when she created a fake employee — a doctor with the initials Y.H.J.
“She concealed her scheme by preparing a set of fabricated internal payroll records that made no mention of Y.H.J.,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in a statement. “Accountants who lie, cheat and steal threaten the financial solvency of businesses, (who) must remain vigilant against fraud. All too often the perpetrator is someone they know.”
Kemp had the fictional Y.H.J.’s salary deposited into her account from April 2010 to February 2013.
She is scheduled to be sentenced June 11.
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