BOSTON – A Malden woman was sentenced today in federal court in Boston on fraud and identity theft charges in connection with her embezzlement of more than $795,000 from her employer.
Kayla Figelski, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to three years in prison and two years of supervised release. Figelski was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $796,747. In May 2021, Figelski pleaded guilty to seven counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
From in or about April 2017 through June 2019, Figelski stole at least $796,747 from her employer, an elder law attorney, in Malden. Figelski perpetrated the scheme by forging checks to herself from her employer’s checking accounts, including conservatorship, trust and estate administration accounts her employer maintained for the firm’s elderly clients and their estates. Figelski deposited the checks into her own bank account, from which she withdrew the funds, or directly cashed the checks. Figelski concealed the scheme by altering bank statements to make it appear that the checks were written to legitimate vendors. As a result of Figelski’s theft, her employer was forced to sell the building where her law practice was located, which had been in the victim’s family since 1976.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Malden Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.