A Lyndhurst woman faces 20 years behind bars after she admitted to her role in a multi-year embezzlement scheme and to submitting a false personal income tax return, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announce.
Ruby Baroni, 54, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals to a two-count information charging her with one count of wire fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, Honig said.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
Between October 2010 and August 2016, Baroni held an accounting position at a New Jersey guided-tour company. In that capacity, Baroni had authority to cut company checks. During that timeframe, Baroni and Estela Laluf, another company employee (manager), devised a scheme to embezzle funds from their employer.
Laluf would direct Baroni to cut checks to actual employees and contractors, which did not reflect any actual work or services performed. Baroni would then cash the checks, and Laluf and Baroni would then split the proceeds for personal use.
Laluf and Baroni embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company, Honig said. Baroni then fraudulently omitted the proceeds from the embezzlement scheme from her tax year 2016 tax return.
Laluf pleaded guilty before Judge Neals to a separate information related to the scheme Sept. 20, 2021.
The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of subscribing to a false tax return carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 25, 2022.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.