ATLANTA—A former manager of Bronner Bros., Inc., has been arraigned on nine counts of mail fraud relating to the theft of $2.5 million from her former employer, according to authorities.
Veria Fields was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month.
“Small businesses depend on their finance and accounting personnel to safeguard the financial health of the company and its employees,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. “This defendant is charged with violating this trust and helped herself to millions of the company’s dollars over several years.”
Fields, 54, of Atlanta, Georgia, was arraigned Thursday.
J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “The loss amount in this case is significant and, with the federal indictment and arrest of Ms. Fields, the former Accounts Receivable Manager at the victim company, this matter will have its day in court.”
Here are the facts and circumstances surrounding this case, according to Horn:
- Fields was the Accounts Receivable Manager for Bronner Bros. Inc., a wholesaler of African American hair care products headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, Fields also informally performed customer service functions for the company.
- From 2006 through 2010, Fields allegedly embezzled over $2.5 million from Bronner Bros. by offering customers unauthorized discounts of five to ten percent in exchange for cash payments made directly to her.
- Customers continued to submit orders with the expectation that they would receive the cash discounts promised by the defendant.
- To conceal the unauthorized discounts and her theft from Bronner Bros, Fields allegedly used her position as Accounts Receivable Manager to create false and fraudulent accounting entries.
King is presumed innocent until the legal process proves her guilty, officials said.