San Jose, California - Lena “Mickey” Jacobs Coombs pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon on wire fraud charges alleging she embezzled money from her former employer, Symantec, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.
Coombs admitted in her plea agreement that from January 2010 through April 2012 she was employed by Symantec as a Director of Marketing and worked at Symantec’s Lindon, Utah facility outside of Salt Lake City. Between January 2010 and May 2012, Coombs used various methods to embezzle a total of over $1.137 million from Symantec. Coombs admitted that she spent these embezzled Symantec funds on various personal expenses such as such as trips to Hawaii and the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis, concerts, home remodeling, automobile payments, and a personal nanny. Coombs charged personal and other unauthorized expenses on the Symantec American Express Cards and then knowingly submitted fraudulent expense reports to disguise these charges as legitimate business expenses. Coombs also submitted fraudulent invoices falsely claiming that a shell company she had created had done marketing work for Symantec. Coombs then diverted the payments on those fraudulent invoices for her personal use.
Coombs, 48, of Highland, Utah, was charged by indictment on June 11, 2014, with 26 counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and 10 counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a). Under the plea agreement, Coombs pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Coombs’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 1, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. before the Honorable Lucy H. Koh, United States District Court Judge, in San Jose. The maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Fazioli is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Laurie Worthen. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI.
