A former HBO employee has pleaded guilty to stealing almost $1 million from the company.
A former HBO employee, Jennifer Choi, agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from a money-making scheme in which she stole nearly $1 million from the media company.
Jennifer Choi, 38, worked at HBO for nearly 10 years as a scheduler who handled the make-up services for the company’s actors. She was fired two years ago.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Choi established a fake company called Shine Glossy, LLP, through which she submitted fraudulent invoices for styling services given to actors. However, court documents say, the services were never used and Choi pocketed the money that HBO paid. She filed 300 bogus invoices and earned $940,000.
In addition, Choi admitted that she earned another $63,000, for car-service rides that her family took and then submitted to HBO for reimbursement.
Also, Choi admitted, she didn’t file federal income tax returns or filed returns that under-reported her income when she had, in fact, earned hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Choi is now facing 45 years in prison.
