Ex-shoe co. exec to admit to $30M theft
A former executive of a Middleboro-based shoe company has agreed to plead guilty to stealing nearly $30 million from the business in a years-long scheme where he used the money to supplement his lifestyle and buy “luxury” gifts for an unnamed individual, the U.S. attorney’s office announced.
Prosecutors allege Richard Hajjar, 64, of Duxbury, embezzled money from Alden Shoe Co. dating back to “at least” 2011 until he was fired in October 2019. The former chief financial officer would write himself checks from Alden’s cash reserves and cash them, according to a 12-page federal complaint released Wednesday.
Hajjar has “accepted responsibility for his actions … and has agreed to enter a plea of guilty,” defense attorney Daniel Conley of Mintz Levin said. Conley is the former longtime Suffolk District Attorney.
Hajjar will admit to wire fraud, unlawful monetary transactions and filing a false tax return, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled. Conley said Hajjar is cooperating and has already returned assets “into the millions of dollars.”
According to the federal complaint, a large portion of the stolen cash went to a person identified only as “Individual 1.” He transferred $10.4 million into his own personal bank accounts and $11.5 million to “Individual 1” and their associate, the complaint adds.
Another $4 million, the feds say, was used buy Individual 1 “millions of dollars’ (sic) worth of luxury goods and travel” including private flights to the Caribbean and nearly $440,000 on two pairs of earrings and two diamond rings.
Hajjar also wrote himself a check for $900,000 on July 6, 2016, which he used toward the purchase of a New York City condo for “Individual 1,” according to the complaint.
In a separate civil suit pending in Suffolk Superior Court, Alden Shoe Company is seeking repayment from Hajjar’s alleged girlfriend and former WCVB anchor Bianca de la Garza, claiming Hajjar used the stolen cash to buy her gifts and invest in her insolvent production companies.
The suit alleges the former
TV personality “knew or should have known that Mr. Hajjar did not have millions of dollars,” yet “nevertheless accepted” the cash.
Attorney Michael Pabaian, who is representing de la Garza in the civil suit, said “she believed at all times that these investments came from Mr. Hajjar’s legal sources of income and wealth.” Last month parties asked the court for more time to reach a possible settlement, court records state.
De la Garza was not charged on Wednesday and is not referenced in the federal criminal complaint. Attorney Martin Weinberg told the Herald de la Garza “did not have knowledge of any of the wrongdoing.”