LAFAYETTE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 37-year-old Carlina Moore was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison for Wire Fraud charges. Moore was also ordered to pay $121,600.50 in restitution.
On August 4, 2021, Moore pleaded guilty to Wire Fraud. She was previously employed by the Montessori Educational Center, Inc. as a bookkeeper from May 2018 to August 2020. Moore handled all in-house bookkeeping for them.
According to the information presented in court, the MEC’s administrator reviewed their bank accounts and discovered a questionable transaction on August 25, 2020. This forced the administrator to conduct a further review of the bank and credit card accounts. The investigation concluded that Moore was embezzling funds from the MEC’s accounts without their knowledge or authorization.
Law enforcement agents investigated the activity and confirmed that Moore had in fact defrauded the MEC by transmitting funds by way of wire communications in interstate commerce. According to Moore, she created a scheme to defraud the MEC and she did so in order to obtain money and property from the MEC fraudulently and for her own personal gain. She admitted to embezzling $121,600.50.