Former MetLife Employee Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in Massachusetts

BOSTON – In a shocking case of corporate deception, Meredith Mandracchia, a 32-year-old former employee of MetLife, pleaded guilty to defrauding the company of over a quarter of a million dollars through a phony expense scheme.

Mandracchia, a former senior marketing consultant for MetLife, submitted bogus expense reports to the company from 2005 until 2010. The reports included a wide variety of personal expenses, such as purchases at Banana Republic, J. Crew, and Victoria’s Secret, as well as payments to tanning salons, nail salons, and grocery stores.

The defendant also fabricated invoices from legitimate MetLife vendors for conference sponsorships, membership fees, and other charges, causing the company to make payments to Mandracchia’s corporate American Express account. However, those payments simply satisfied Mandracchia’s personal charges.

In addition, Mandracchia submitted fabricated invoices for company expenses she claimed to have charged to her personal credit card, causing the company to reimburse her directly for those fake charges. The loss to MetLife totaled $230,000.

Mandracchia pleaded guilty to wire fraud, a charge that carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. United States Senior District Judge Mark L. Wolf scheduled sentencing for May 2, 2014.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Kevin Niland, Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Frank of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

The case highlights the importance of corporate accountability and the need for companies to implement robust expense reporting systems to prevent similar scams in the future.

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