A woman who worked for a Hamden property management company pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of wire fraud stemming from a $446K embezzlement scheme.
Crystal Klatt, 36, of Meriden, entered the plea in a proceeding before U.S. District Court Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven.
Klatt is scheduled to be sentenced March 8, and faces up to 20 years imprisonment. However, a plea agreement shows sentencing guidelines have been calculated at 33 to 41 months. She is free pending sentencing on $50,000 bail.
At the time of the offense, Klatt had been working as an office manager for a property management company in Hamden, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
According to Klatt’s LinkedIn profile, she was assistant property manager at Margolis Management and Realty LLC in Hamden, which provides property management services to condominium associations.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Klatt had access to clients’ bank accounts as part of her job duties. Clients would allow access to their accounts so the property management company could make payments on their behalf, court documents show.
Prosecutors said the embezzlement scheme lasted for about seven years. Between approximately December 2014 and January 2021, Klatt diverted $446,859.82 from the bank accounts of at least 14 of her employer’s clients to pay for her personal credit card charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
When Klatt received a bank statement for a client account, she “altered the statement to hide her theft and added an entry in the amount of money that she stole so the account would appear to balance,” court documents show.
The U.S. Secret Service, Hamden Police Department and Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force were involved in the investigation.
Attorney Michael Moscowitz of New Haven, who is representing Klatt, did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.
