Nikki Lopez, the former owner of Sora & Co. has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for embezzling more than $600,000 from a local construction company, according to U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
Lopez was also ordered to pay $611,665.22 in restitution.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the sentencing on June 9.
Sora owner pleads guilty to stealing more than $600k from local construction company
Lopez, 37, pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud.
The government alleged in court documents that in 2013, M&D Construction hired Lopez as a bookkeeper/accountant for the business. As part of her duties, Lopez was given access to M&D’s bank account and was given administrator permission over M&D’s Quick Books account.
Between January 2017 and January 2020, Lopez charged more than $600,000 on her personal credit card accounts.
Her expenses focused mostly on consumer shopping and travel, and included more than $80,000 on purchases from Amazon, more than $115,000 on general retail purchases, more than $46,000 on clothing, more than $57,000 on travel, more than $34,000 on restaurants, more than $24,000 on beauty products, more than $12,000 on furniture and more than $7,000 on plastic surgery. None of these purchases was related to M&D’s business operations, according to court documents.
Sora owner charged with federal wire fraud, sued in civil court
To pay for her personal credit card expenses, Lopez embezzled money from M&D by using her access to M&D’s bank account to direct payments from the M&D business account to her personal credit accounts without the knowledge of or authorization from M&D’s owners. Between January 2017 and January 2020, Lopez directed 72 payments from M&D to her personal credit accounts and embezzled approximately $632,362.65, according to court documents.
Lopez’s embezzlement scheme was discovered when she purchased a small boutique clothing store in downtown Great Falls called Sora & Co., and resigned her position at M&D, according to court documents.
To replace her, M&D hired a new accounting firm and a review of M&D’s books determined that over $600,000 was missing. M&D’s accounting firm contacted their bank and learned that the missing funds were paid directly to Lopez’s credit card accounts, according to court documents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey K. Starnes prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
