Buffalo woman admits to stealing $2.37 million

Between 2020 and 2022, Maureen Holleran embezzled approximately $1.59 million from her employer that she failed to report on her tax returns, according to her plea agreement.

Holleran faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and one year of post-release supervision when she is sentenced Nov. 4.

She agreed to pay $545,792 to the IRS in restitution for taxes she owed. She also agreed to pay $2.3 million to her former employer, whose identity has not been revealed.

According to court documents, Holleran worked until October 2023 as a workers’ compensation claims manager and had the authority to send payments of up to $2,000 to claimants without her supervisor’s approval.

Holleran admitted that between July 2020 and June 2023, she submitted more than 1,200 fraudulent claims, each under the $2,000 threshold, to the insurance company’s claims processing system, and directed $2.37 million in payments to bank accounts she controlled. She also created false expenses in the insurance company’s claims processing system, such as claims for lost wages and reimbursements for medical supplies and co-payments.

On June 5, 2023, according to court documents, Holleran knowingly filed a false income tax return for the 2022 tax year with the IRS.