La Crescenta resident pleads guilty to using fake employee names to bilk employers

A 45-year-old La Crescenta woman this week admitted to embezzling roughly $2 million while working as a payroll supervisor for two family-owned companies, using the scheme to bankroll vacations overseas and cosmetic surgery, federal court records show.

For almost a decade, Claudia Calderon used names of former or fake employees to collect made-up reimbursements and wages from Onyx Inc., an earring and ear-piercing equipment manufacturer, and Quadrtech, Inc., a company that packages the earrings and equipment, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Calderon this week agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud. She worked for both companies, which are owned by the same family, for 15 years, starting in 2000.

According to court records, Calderon would often pour into her own account more than $18,000 — sometimes up to $28,000 — a month via direct deposit, using names of up to four fake employees.

With the embezzled money, she paid for trips to Europe and Hawaii, Caribbean cruises, cosmetic and dental surgery as well as furnishings for a second home in Florida, officials said.

“Calderon’s violation of her employers’ trust cost the companies millions, money that should have gone to the companies and their employees,” U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said in a statement.

Calderon, who faces up to 20 years in federal prison, is due in court next month.