MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A federal grand jury in the Western District of Tennessee has been indicted with the embezzlement of a local law firm.
Reagan Fondren, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.
Catherine Corrine Daly, 54, was employed by a local law firm as its office manager, giving her access to the firm’s bank accounts, including its operating account, which was used to pay the firm’s operating expenses, located at a Memphis branch of what was then known as SunTrust Bank, according to the indictment in the case.
Daly is alleged to have used the money from that account to pay off a total of five credit cards issued through two American Express accounts from June 2019 to October 2021.
According to the indictment, those cards were used to purchase a number of goods, including clothing, shoes, designer handbags, and jewelry, and furnishings for Daly’s home.
Using this method, Daly embezzled around $1,289,085 of the law firm’s funds for her own use.
Daly is charged with six counts of violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 2314. This statute makes it a crime to transfer money in interstate commerce that has been “stolen, converted or taken by fraud.”
Each count of the indictment is punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment, a fine of no more than $250,000.00.
An investigation by the United States Secret Service into this incident is underway.
