LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Henderson woman pleaded guilty to embezzling over $26 million from her employer and purchasing high-end merchandise using the stolen funds.
Cynthia Marie Marabella was employed as a controller at a Las Vegas-based construction company. She managed accounts and received financial statements from various banks and credit card companies.
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The fraud scheme
Marabella admitted that from Jan. 1, 2018, to about Feb. 28, 2025, she and her boyfriend, co-defendant William Keolanui Costa, devised a scheme to defraud her employer. They fraudulently duplicated bonus checks and deposited the checks into bank accounts controlled by Marabella and Costa.
They opened credit cards in other people’s names, made unauthorized charges, and then paid the bills with stolen funds. They provided false accounting records to the employer, created forged and false bank statements, and sent fictitious invoices from merchant accounts, then paid the invoices with stolen funds.
Marabella and Costa used the stolen money to pay for vehicles, living expenses, and credit card bills. They purchased high-end merchandise with the stolen funds, such as expensive purses, shoes, clothing, and jewelry. Marabella sold the merchandise through an online consignment company. Marabella and Costa received more than $245,000 from the sales.
Charges and sentencing
Marabella pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of monetary transactions in criminally derived property. The total maximum statutory penalty is 30 years in prison. Sentencing has been set for Aug. 4, 2026, before United States District Judge Andrew P. Gordon.
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