The former controller for Simon Greenstone Panatier in Dallas has pleaded guilty to inflating her salary more than tenfold, taking an unearned $1.48 million over three years.
Christiane Kathleen Irwin, 44, was indicted March 15, 2022, on three counts of wire fraud and entered a plea of not guilty April 20, 2022. David C. Greenstone told The Lawbook on Wednesday that the firm had no comment on the matter.
Irwin’s job duties included submitting biweekly payroll for herself and the firm’s other employees to Automatic Data Processing Inc., also known as ADP.
The seven-page indictment refers to her employer only as “Company A.” Irwin’s annual salary was about $140,000, but she took home an unearned $1.48 million between Jan. 1, 2018, and Feb. 9, 2021, according to the indictment.
Irwin’s attorney, Joshua Lowther of Lowther Walker, declined to comment Wednesday.
The three counts of wire fraud are tied to three separate payroll submissions made by Irwin to ADP — one on March 20, 2018, for $30,836.67, one on Nov. 5, 2019, for $36,011.77 and one on March 5, 2020, for $49,375.
“In furtherance of the fraudulent scheme, Irwin concealed from Company A her falsely inflated payroll submissions to ADP,” the indictment reads.
Irwin, who has agreed to pay $1.48 million in restitution to the law firm, is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr Jan. 3 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Irwin is also represented by Katryna Spearman of Lowther Walker and Austin F. Pennington of The Pennington Firm.
The government is represented by Fabio Leonardi, Jenna Rudoff and Nashonme Johnson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
The case number is 3:22-cr-00104.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to identify the law firm Irwin worked for.