A South Jersey woman stole $600,000 from her employer and spent it on luxury goods and plastic surgery, police say
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark.
A former human resources manager at a South Jersey shipping-container company has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 from her employer and spending it on designer clothes and handbags, a vacation in Puerto Rico, and plastic surgery, Burlington County authorities said Thursday.
Karen O’Brien, 41, of Maple Shade, allegedly stole the money while working for the Cinnaminson-based SEA BOX Inc., which specializes in the design and manufacturing of shipping and storage containers.
Company officials alerted Cinnaminson police late last year to the embezzlement, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said. An investigation revealed that over a 12-month period, O’Brien used the company’s credit card for personal expenses totaling $614,499, authorities said.
O’Brien, who was later fired, was arrested Wednesday. She was carrying $30,000 in cash at the time, the Prosecutor’s Office said.
She has been charged with theft and using a computer for a scheme to defraud, and was taken into custody pending her initial appearance in court. It was not known if she has a lawyer.
O’Brien is accused of using the money to buy clothes, handbags, and other accessories from luxury stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, the Prosecutor’s Office said. She also used the company’s credit card to pay for airline tickets, rental cars, and lodging for her and others during a vacation to Puerto Rico, and to pay for buttocks augmentation for her and a friend at a Las Vegas plastic surgery center, prosecutors said.
Originally published here by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
