Faces 80 Year Sentence
A Downey woman appeared in court Friday to face charges alleging she embezzled more than $1 million from her employer in Irvine over a period of several years, announced David Bowdich, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, and Eileen Decker, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California.
According to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Aug. 26, Trisha Chopin, 48, of Downey, is suspected of embezzling $1.2 million between 2008 and 2015 from her former Irvine-based employer, Steadfast Companies, a real estate investment management company.
The indictment alleges that Chopin was the sole payroll administrator for the corporation and controlled access to payroll reports, which allowed her to conceal her scheme. The indictment further alleges that Chopin was able to make false payroll entries into the company’s general ledger making it appear that payments were being made to current and recently terminated employees. In reality, the general ledger entries disguised the fact that Chopin generated checks payable to herself.
Chopin was arrested Friday morning by FBI Agents who were assisted by officers with the Downey Police Department.
According to investigators, Chopin used the proceeds from the embezzlement to fund lavish vacations and for a variety of personal expenses.
If convicted of the charges in the indictment, Chopin faces a statutory maximum sentence of 80 years of federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
