Newtown Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $1.5 Million

By Andrew Gorosko

BRIDGEPORT — A Newtown woman waived her right to indictment and also pleaded guilty this week in US District Court to one count of wire fraud stemming from her embezzlement of more than $1.5 million from her Shelton employer, according to a statement from the US Attorney for Connecticut.

Joanne Osmolik, 51, pleaded guilty on December 20 before US District Judge Stefan R. Underhill, according to the statement.

Town real estate records list Osmolik as one of the owners of a residential property at 277 South Main Street. The three-acre property has an appraised value of more than $700,000.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Osmolik was employed at Latex International in Shelton, serving most recently as the company’s vice president for human resources.

From approximately October 2008 to November 2010, Osmolik and another unnamed member of Latex International’s senior management used corporate funds to pay personal expenses, according to the US Attorney.

As part of the scheme, Osmolik and the other employee charged substantial personal expenditures on corporate credit cards, according to the statement. They also prepared fraudulent expense reports to conceal the unauthorized credit card expenses, and to receive additional company funds, it adds.

 Through this scheme, Osmolik charged more than $1 million in personal expenses on the corporate American Express credit card that was assigned to her, and received an additional $531,655 in fraudulent expense report payments from the company, according to the US Attorney.

Judge Underhill has scheduled sentencing for March 9, at which time Osmolik faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to approximately $3.5 million.

 As part of the resolution of this matter, Osmolik has agreed to forfeit her interest in three residential properties in Vermont, six motorcycles, an all-terrain vehicle, four snowmobiles, vehicle trailers, jewelry, and numerous appliances and other home furnishing items, according to the statement.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric J. Glover.