Richard Hajjar, former CFO of Alden Shoe Co., pleads guilty to $30 million scheme that paid for diamond jewelry, St Maarten and Anguilla Caribbean trips for friend.

The former chief financial officer of a Middleborough-based shoe company pleaded guilty on Wednesday to embezzling roughly $30 million from the company in a multi-year scheme, according to Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell’s office.

Richard Hajjar, formerly of Alden Shoe Co., had previously agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud, unlawful monetary transactions and filing a false tax return.

Prosecutors say Hajjar, who is 64, was writing himself checks from company accounts as far back as 2011 until Oct. of 2019. Court documents show that in 2011, Hajjar wrote eight checks worth $585,000; then in 2012, he wrote an additional 17 checks to himself for $1.2 million.

Hajjar transferred even larger sums of money into his accounts. In 2014 and 2015 alone he transferred more than $11.3 million into his accounts.

Additionally, authorities say that Hajjar failed to report the proceeds of his embezzlement as income on his tax returns between 2014 and 2019, which resulted in a failure to pay roughly $5,112,822 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to the complaint, Hajjar bought two pairs of earrings totaling nearly $200,000 and two diamond rings valued at $241,000 for a person who is listed as “Individual 1.” A civil lawsuit filed by Alden Shoe Co. Inc. names former Boston news anchor Bianca de la Garza as the recipient.

Court documents also show that Hajjar paid $114,000 for private flights for the person to go to St. Maarten and Anguilla. Based on the shoe company’s civil lawsuit, that person again appears to be de la Garza.

Hajjar is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 15, 2021.

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https://www.masslive.com/police-fire/2021/05/richard-hajjar-former-cfo-of-alden-shoe-co-pleads-guilty-to-30-million-scheme-that-paid-for-diamond-jewelry-caribbean-trips-for-friend.html?outputType=amp

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