A former employee of XM Satellite Radio who embezzled more than $900,000 from the company has been sentenced to 15 months in prison. 54-year-old Valencia Person of Suitland, MD, was sentenced 8/9. She also agreed to a money judgment of more than $900,000, reported Fox News. Prosecutors say Person and a conspirator diverted payments that were supposed to go to XM vendors into bank accounts held by the conspirator.
The announcement came from U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr. and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Person pled guilty in March 2012 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was sentenced by judge Reggie B. Walton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Upon completion of her prison term, Person will be placed on three years of supervised release. In addition, as part of the plea agreement, Person agreed to a money judgment of $908,924, representing the amount of proceeds from the crime, reported The AP/Fairfax News.
Person was as a coordinator in the Accounts Payable Department. Her duties included responsibility for payments to large vendors. From 2005 until at least 2008, Person and an XM accounts payable administrator, Brenda Jones, embezzled nearly $909,000 from the company. They secretly diverted at least 26 payments, which were supposed to go to XM vendors, to bank accounts held by Jones. They covered up the activities by altering data in the company’s accounting system. Jones then gave a portion of the monies to Person, said the AP/Fairfax News.
Jones resigned in 2006. However, more than $690,000 of the money was transferred into her accounts after she had left the company. Jones, 46, of Lothian, MD, pled guilty in January 2012 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She is to be sentenced 8/16, also by Judge Walton.
See the AP/Fairfax News story here
