Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
A Centerville woman, Paula Sue Leventhal, 64, has pled guilty to wire fraud charges after embezzling $550,000 from her employer. Leventhal served as the Chief Executive Secretary to the CEO of a farmer-owned cooperative based in Herndon. Her responsibilities included arranging travel for executives and utilizing credit cards issued by the cooperative.
Court documents reveal that on November 30, 2015, Leventhal established a merchant account on Square, a point-of-sale platform that enables small businesses to accept card payments. She manipulated this system by altering the merchant name to disguise fraudulent transactions as legitimate business expenses.
Between December 2015 and July 2022, Leventhal used these cooperative-issued credit cards to conduct unauthorized transactions through Square, redirecting funds into her personal accounts. This scheme involved 506 fraudulent charges totaling $550,000 and was executed over several years with funds being transferred in 373 separate increments.
Leventhal's sentencing is scheduled for May 28. She faces up to 20 years in prison; however, actual sentences are often less severe than the maximum penalty. The sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge who will consider various statutory factors and U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The announcement was made by Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, alongside Matt McCool from the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office following Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr.'s acceptance of the plea.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul III and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Hood are leading the prosecution with substantial assistance from Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Finnegan.
Additional information regarding this case can be found on the websites of both the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or through PACER under Case No. 1:25-cr-26.
