A former human resources worker at FujiFilm has pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny for stealing more than $400,000 from the company.
Maria Mecca, a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, entered the guilty plea in Westchester County Court before Judge Michael Martinelli, according to a statement by Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. Martinelli ordered Mecca to be freed on bail and to make restitution. She is due back in court for sentencing on March 18, 2020.
Scarpino said that Mecca was working as a human resources staffer for FujiFilm at its headquarters in Valhalla when she committed the larceny. The company offered its employees a benefit program called FujiFilm Achiever”™s Points. The incentive program rewarded employees who demonstrated outstanding performance with points, which could be accumulated and eventually redeemed for gift cards.
Programs such as the one used by FujiFilm operate in a similar manner to frequent-flyer programs used by airlines and bonus-point programs by credit card companies in that accumulated points can be redeemed for items of value.
According to Scarpino, Mecca had clearance to issue the benefit points to company employees. Over a 2½-month period, she issued 41,784,000 points to herself. The points had a value of $417,840, which she then used to buy gift cards for herself.
Mecca”™s theft was discovered when monitors of the Achiever”™s Portal system noticed that something suspicious was going on with Mecca”™s account.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Gwen Galef, chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau in Scarpino”™s office.
This article has been updated to reflect that Mecca was an HR worker rather than officer.
This literally has to be the dumbest white collar criminal in history. How do you think nobody will notice half a million dollars missing… in gift cards? Unbe-freakin-lievable.