U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said that a lady from Bergen County, New Jersey, was sentenced to 21 months in prison on June 2, 2022, for her role in a multi-year embezzlement conspiracy and for filing a fraudulent personal income tax return.
Ruby Baroni, 55, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty via videoconference to an information charging her with one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return before U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals. Judge Neals handed down the punishment in federal court in Newark on Thursday.
Even though the payments did not reflect any actual work or services performed by those persons, Lauf would tell Baroni to issue corporate checks to actual firm workers and contractors.
The cheques would be cashed by Baroni, and the money would be transferred to Laluf and Baroni’s personal accounts.
In this way, Lauf and Baroni defrauded the corporation of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Baroni’s 2016 tax return incorrectly excluded the proceeds from the embezzlement scheme.
Lauf pled guilty to separate information related to the plot in front of Judge Neals on Sept. 20, 2021, and was sentenced to 27 months in prison on April 25, 2022.
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In addition to the prison term, Judge Neals sentenced Baroni to two years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $295,297 in restitution.
Documents filed in this lawsuit and declarations made in court show that:
Between October 2010 to August 2016, Baroni worked as an accountant for a guided tour company in New Jersey. Baroni could write cheques on the company’s bank accounts in that role.
During that time, Baroni and Estela Laluf, a company manager, planned a scheme to defraud the company of funds.
Lauf would instruct Baroni to issue corporate checks to actual company workers and contractors, even though those payments did not reflect any actual work or services performed by those individuals.
Baroni would then cash the cheques, and Laluf and Baroni would convert the proceeds to their personal accounts.
Lauf and Baroni stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company in this way. The revenues from the embezzlement plan were then improperly excluded from Baroni’s 2016 tax return.
On Sept. 20, 2021, Laluf pled guilty to separate information linked to the plan before Judge Neals and was sentenced to 27 months in prison on April 25, 2022.
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Judge Neals also sentenced Baroni to two years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $295,297 in restitution in addition to the prison term.
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Postal inspectors from the US Postal Inspection Service in Newark, led by Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood of the Philadelphia Division, and special agents from the IRS – Criminal Investigation, led by Acting Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins, were credited by US Attorney Sellinger with the investigation that led to this week’s sentencing.
Assistant US Attorney Andrew M. Trombly of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark is representing the government.
