Kayla Figelski, Embezzlement, Massachusetts 2021

BOSTON – A brazen embezzlement scheme has come to an end in Massachusetts, with Kayla Figelski, a 34-year-old woman from Malden, being sentenced to three years in prison and two years of supervised release for stealing nearly $800,000 from her employer.

Figelski, an elder law attorney, perpetrated the scheme by forging checks to herself from her employer’s checking accounts, including conservatorship, trust, and estate administration accounts her employer maintained for the firm’s elderly clients and their estates.

Over the course of two years, Figelski stole at least $796,747 from her employer, depositing the checks into her own bank account, from which she withdrew the funds, or directly cashing the checks. She concealed the scheme by altering bank statements to make it appear that the checks were written to legitimate vendors.

As a result of Figelski’s theft, her employer was forced to sell the building where her law practice was located, which had been in the victim’s family since 1976.

Figelski pleaded guilty to seven counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in May 2021. Her crimes have left a trail of devastation in the community, highlighting the devastating consequences of corporate embezzlement.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Malden Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

Figelski will also have to pay restitution in the amount of $796,747.

Defendant: Kayla Figelski

Criminal Charges: seven counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft

City and State: Malden, Massachusetts

Date: May 2021 (plea), April 2017 – June 2019 (crime date)

Sentence: three years in prison, two years of supervised release

Dollar Amount: $796,747

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