Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL
Remember a few months ago when the news broke that Clay Marzo’s bookkeeper had allegedly been dipping her greedy little paws into his bank account? Well, she just pleaded guilty.
Felicidad Rivera, the woman in charge of not only Marzo’s cash stole about $400,000 in total. According to reports, Marzo lost his house, his life savings, and is now in some pretty deep debt.
Rivera admitted to 13 counts of wire fraud against Clay and his mother, Jill Marzo Clark. A single count could carry a sentence of up to five years and a fine of $250,000 –meaning she could potentially spend 65 years behind bars and fine she’ll never be able to pay.
According to The Maui News, from 2008 to 2015, the bookkeeper wrote almost 200 checks to herself totaling about $334, 500. Her credit card bills were also set up to come directly out of the Marzos’ bank accounts. She got caught, though, when Marzo’s mother noticed charges for a bunch of designer handbags that she hadn’t bought. When she realized they’d been shipped to Rivera’s house, she called the police.
During the ensuing investigation, authorities found that Rivera hadn’t only written checks to herself–she’d stolen $75,000 from their bank accounts and tried to hide her trail by fudging the books.
“It felt right,” Marzo’s mother said outside the court. “It felt right, but it also tears your heart out–because it absolutely devastated me and my family.” Rivera’s sentencing takes place on June 5th.
