Gina Suzanne Lonestar, a senior employee at Men's Wearhouse, formed a fake company and used it to issue invoices to her employer for extremely boring vendor supplies and services. The scam lasted 8 years, generated $1.7m, and she was only caught because she used her personal bank account. Lonester will be cooling her heels in federal prison for 22 months, reports CBS News.
Lonestar served as a senior director of Men's Wearhouse's facilities department and vice president of the retailer's construction and maintenance division. She was director of the facilities department when she devised her scheme, prosecutors said.
Lonestar's scheme ended in 2019 when the company discovered the conduct during an internal audit. She was authorized to approve invoices for work done by vendors the whole time she worked for Men's Wearhouse, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In September 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Lonestar, charging her with six counts of wire fraud. But due to her plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to one count and the court dismissed the remaining counts during her sentencing hearing.
The casual, blatant, zero-opsec nature of her crimes means she was always going to be caught and never going to stop, but also suggests that with even the slightest forethought and planning one might get away with anything. I guarantee it.
