Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Embezzling Over $3.3 Million From Literary Agency And Its Clients

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that DARIN WEBB pled guilty to defrauding a Manhattan-based literary agency (the “Agency”) and its clients of over $3.3 million.  WEBB provided bookkeeping services for the Agency and carried out his scheme by making unauthorized transfers from the Agency’s bank accounts, and then making changes to the Agency’s accounting system to evade detection.  WEBB pled guilty to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As he admitted today, Darin Webb was cooking the books for his employer when his duty was to provide bookkeeping services.  Webb stole over $3 million that belonged to the literary agency and its clients, and he now awaits sentencing for his crime.”

According to allegations contained in the Information filed against Webb and statements made in related court filings and proceedings:

From in or about 2001 through in or about March 2018, DARIN WEBB, the defendant, was engaged as a bookkeeper for the Agency.  From at least January 2011 through March 2018, WEBB used his position as the Agency’s bookkeeper to transfer more than $3.3 million of funds, belonging to the Agency and the Agency’s clients, from the Agency’s bank accounts to bank accounts that WEBB controlled.  In order to evade detection of his criminal conduct and carry out his scheme, WEBB made changes to the Agency’s accounting records to disguise the nature of the transfers.

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WEBB, 47, of Manhattan, New York, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the Court.

WEBB is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, 2018, at 11:30 a.m.

Mr. Berman praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine I. Magdo is in charge of the prosecution.