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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Erin Duggan |
DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE ANNOUNCES GUILTY PLEA
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Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the arrest and guilty plea of a woman who perpetrated a fraudulent travel account scheme to steal more than $35 million. VICTORIA A. WOFFORD, 53, the founder, president and chief financial officer of Tri-Pen Management Corporation, pleaded guilty to the top charge against her, Grand Larceny in the First Degree, for making fraudulent charges on two defunct American Express business travel accounts. WOFFORD used the funds to develop software, purchase an apartment and invest in a restaurant chain. “Corporate fraud victimizes an honest company by decreasing its bottom line, hurting its reputation and diminishing morale. Losses of any amount can have a ripple effect on the salaries and benefits of employees and those who do business with the company,” District Attorney Vance said. “This defendant committed multimillion-dollar fraud in a systematic fashion over a number of years. This Office remains committed to bringing perpetrators of large-scale economic crime to justice.” According to documents filed in court, WOFFORD exercised full control over the finances of Tri-Pen Management Corporation, a privately-owned travel management company with offices in New York, Maryland, and Texas. In November 2006, WOFFORD began making fraudulent travel charges on two defunct business travel accounts of a Tri-Pen Management client. WOFFORD channeled the money exacted from the travel charges to a division of her company. By February 2010, WOFFORD had charged more than $35 million on the business travel accounts. WOFFORD allocated the majority of the stolen funds to the development of Tri-Pen TravelMaster Technologies LLC, a software company that she founded to enhance Tri-Pen Management’s business. She also used the funds to buy a $475,000 apartment in St. Petersburg, Florida, in her husband’s name and also provided him with $2.4 million to invest in a restaurant chain in California. District Attorney Vance thanked Major Economic Crimes Bureau Principal Deputy Chief Gary Fishman, who handled the case with the assistance of Assistant District Attorneys Hillary Rosenberg and Tanya Apparicio, and Senior Investigator Patrick McKenna. Trial Preparation Assistant Mark Gaioni and former Trial Preparation Assistant Grant Marcks also assisted. Defendant Information: VICTORIA A. WOFFORD, 6/28/1956 Charges: ###
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