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Regina DeComa, 36, of Cedar Grove; Dawn Becker, 55, of Oakland; and Allan Soriano, 42, of Cedar Grove were arrested on various fraud charges, Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna said.
DeComa was an office manager and Becker the financial comptroller of a Fairfield business made "unauthorized distributions of corporate funds" to themselves between October 2018 and August 2020, Manna said.
They charged items to corporate accounts, and DeComa even opened an unauthorized corporate American Express card in her name, the chief said.
DeComa, who is engaged to Soriano, bought her own engagement ring with the money while Soriano, who owns AJ's Lunchbox in Caldwell, used the stolen funds to renovate his restaurant while restaurants were closed due to COVID-19, Manna said.
Some other items purchased with the stolen corporate funds included a Pelaton bike, framed and autographed Michael Jordan University of North Carolina jersey worth nearly $10,000, and a framed, game-used base signed by Derek Jeter.
Also recovered were several autographed Eli Manning helmets and pictures, the Peloton bike and DeComa’s engagement ring.
A five-month investigation culminated on Dec. 9, with search warrants executed at the two Cedar Grove homes and AJ's Lunchbox in West Caldwell, owned by Soriano, Manna said.
DeComa and Soriano were arrested immediately after the search warrant execution. Both were released on their own recognizance pending further legal proceedings.
On Dec. 14, Becker surrendered herself to Fairfield authorities. She was charged and released on her own recognizance.
"This was an extensive and comprehensive investigation that took some time for our investigators to fully determine the complete scope of the criminal activity but they did an outstanding job," Manna said.
"As is the case most of the time, greed remains law enforcement’s greatest ally in helping us to catch criminals."
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