ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Dorothea Lassiter, 45, of Ashburn, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Lassiter was also ordered to pay restitution and agreed to an asset forfeiture judgment of more than $258,000.
Lassiter pleaded guilty on September 7. According to court documents, Lassiter was an accountant for a transportation logistics company in Chantilly that provided home and business delivery services. From at least July 2011 through December 2015, Lassiter and a co-employee in the company’s claims department, Okai Quashie-Idun, engaged in an embezzlement scheme that included five other co-conspirators who were non-employees. With Lassiter’s assistance, Idun created false property damage claims and then forwarded the fictitious claims to Lassiter, who would create a corresponding account payable, generate checks for each false claim, and remit the checks to the payees who agreed to deposit or cash the checks. Typically, a large portion of the embezzled funds were deposited into Lassiter’s bank account, who would then provide a portion of the funds to Idun.
Idun pleaded guilty on Sept. 13, and one of the payees, Denise (“Dennis") Crawford, pleaded guilty on October 25. Idun and Crawford are both awaiting sentencing.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Terrence P. McKeown, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward P. Sullivan prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-185.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
