Woman Arraigned for Alleged $400,000 Embezzlement Scheme

WOBURN – Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan has announced that Maureen Sheehan, 46, of North Kingston, Rhode Island, was arraigned today in Middlesex Superior Court and charged with larceny over $250 (2 counts), money laundering (2 counts), and false entry into corporate books.

Clerk Magistrate Michael Sullivan set bail at $250,000 cash. The next scheduled hearing in this case is Monday, June 6. 

“The defendant allegedly devised a Ponzi scheme by transferring money from different accounts to conceal shortages of funds,” said District Attorney Ryan. “This case highlights the importance of the need for companies to closely monitor their finances. Oversight of bookkeepers and accountants is critical to insuring that companies do not fall victim to theft.” 

In the fall of 2013, the defendant was hired by a Newton real estate company as an office manager. Beginning in May of 2014, the defendant is alleged to have begun taking money that was being held in the real estate agency’s escrow accounts and wiring it into her personal account. In an effort to conceal the alleged embezzlement, the defendant would enter false expenses and payees into corporate books and also allegedly delay the release of monies from real estate closing escrow accounts until successor escrow accounts were created, through the sale of other properties, from which she could transfer funds.

The defendant allegedly used the money she had siphoned off from company accounts to purchase a pick-up truck and a Harley Davidson motorcycle. The defendant was terminated in August, 2015. The scheme was discovered when new employees found discrepancies in company funds.

The total estimated funds stolen from the real estate company is $400,000. 

This case is being investigated by the Massachusetts State Police and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.

These charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The prosecutor assigned to this case is Assistant District Attorney Doug Cannon.