A 27-year-old former legal secretary pleaded guilty May 16 to defrauding her boss, a Louisa County lawyer, for more than $145,000 in credit card charges and bank withdrawals she made in his name.
The case reads like a bad novel. Paula Jean Hufner was a secretary for what court documents call “Acme Law Firm,” and had access to the Social Security number, birth date and bank account number of the victim, called only C.F.P. in documents filed in U.S. District Court. She opened up two credit cards over the Internet, one from American Express and the other an MBNA America card. Between September 2004 and October 2006, she racked up nearly $64,000 in charges.
Hufner used the cards for large purchases—a motorboat and an ATV—and cash withdrawals.
Then, around September 2005, Hufner started using the lawyer’s Wachovia bank account to pay down the balances on the cards, transferring more than $80,000 to the credit accounts.
The attorney apparently didn’t notice anything was amiss until late 2006—Hufner was arrested earlier this year after an investigation.
Hufner pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and bank fraud. She will serve a mandatory two years for identity theft, and faces up to 30 years in prison for the bank fraud charges. Hufner could also owe $1.25 million in fines and must forfeit the boat, ATV and $145,210 in cash.
The case is unique because Hufner made such bold purchases over a long period of time. Identity Theft 911, a consumer education site, offers this commentary: “How remiss do you have to be to not notice that your bank account is tens-of-thousands of dollars short at a time? …[T]housands of dollars can’t just float away if you’re weighing in with vigilance.”
C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.
