Former Office Manager Sentenced to Three Years in Prison For Stealing at Least $340,000 From Employer

            WASHINGTON – Bianca Bush-Bronson, 38, the former office manager for a consulting and lobbying firm, has been sentenced to three years in prison for a scheme in which she embezzled more than $340,000 from her employer, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            Bush-Bronson, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty in April 2016 to a charge of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was sentenced on Jan. 18, 2017, by the Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan. Following her prison term, Bush-Bronson will be placed on three years of supervised release. She also is subject to a restitution order that will be imposed later by the Court.

            According to the government’s evidence, Bush-Bronson worked from April 2011 to October 2012 for a business identified in court documents as “Company A,” a consulting and lobbying firm in the District of Columbia. She maintained responsibility for the company’s day-to-day financial operations, including preparing checks, depositing funds, performing reconciliation of funds in bank accounts, and serving as a point of contact with the bank.

            From June 2011 through October 2012, according to the government’s evidence, Bush-Bronson issued checks drawn on the company’s account to herself, to cash, and to third parties for her own benefit. To conceal this activity, she made false entries in internal books and records. In total, she issued at least $80,000 in checks in this manner, using the money for, among other things, a down payment on a car, a mortgage payment, and a payment to her dentist.

            Bush-Bronson also used the company’s credit card to make at least $260,000 in unauthorized purchases for her own personal use at various retailers, including a jewelry store, department stores, and a salon, as well as for restaurants, airline tickets, and hotel stays. Finally, she received $1,470 in parking benefits without authorization.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Assistant Director in Charge Abbate commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Aisha Keys and Tasha Harris, Legal Assistant Angela Lawrence, and former Paralegal Specialist Heather Sales. Finally, they commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle A. Zamarin and David A. Last, who prosecuted the case.