Florida accountant gets stiff sentence for embezzling funds from employer

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U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger has sentenced Kavita L. Harack (35, Kissimmee), aka Kavita Harrack or Sara Harack, to 15 years in federal prison for two counts of wire fraud.

In a May 14, 2021 press release, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida said the court also ordered Harack to forfeit the $604,637.25 in proceeds which she obtained as a result of the fraud, and to pay restitution to the victims of the offenses.

In addition, the court ruled that Harack attempted to obstruct justice during her judicial proceedings by submitting fraudulent documentation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and making multiple false statements to the court.

Harack had pleaded guilty on October 19, 2020.

According to the press release, court documents reveal that the fraud occurred after Harack was hired to work in the Orlando office of a display services company as an accountant in May 2017.

Between April 2018 and May 2019, investigators found Harack directed 74 fraudulent payments from the company to four bank accounts held in her or her husband’s name.

Harack disguised the transfers to these personal accounts as vendor payments.

After she was terminated by the display services company in May 2019, she was hired to work in the accounting department of a project design company in Orlando.

Between July 2019 and December 2019, Harack directed four fraudulent payments from the project design company into two of her personal accounts, again disguising the transactions as vendor payments.

In total, between 2018 and 2019, Harack is said to have fraudulently paid herself $604,637.25 from accounts belonging to the display services and project design companies. Harack used those funds for personal expenditures, including the purchase of a home, home improvements, travel, retail purchases, restaurants, and beauty expenses, the press release said.