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John Dunlea was the CFO at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, a national law firm based in Morristown, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
Between 2017 and 2022, Dunlea misappropriated funds from the firm by paying himself $1.2 million. He also rung up $355,256 in charges on the company credit card, paying for flights, hotels and restaurants for himself and his family, Platkin said.
In May, Dunlea pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by deception and five counts of failure to pay taxes.
Last year, the firm sued Dunlea over the alleged embezzlement, claiming he misappropriated more than $3.2 million over the past 10 years, according to a lawsuit.
Dunlea had worked at the firm for 20 years and had been CFO since 2007. His wife, Nicole Alexander, also worked at the law firm and helped with the scheme, the law firm charged. Alexander has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
Dunlea and Alexander met at the firm, began dating in 2011 and were married in 2015, according to the suit. Alexander countersued the firm, claiming she and her husband had separate bank accounts, according to NJ.com.
Alexander's suit remains pending, according to New Jersey Law Journal. Last December, a judge ruled against her bid to obtain the firm's payroll and credit card records to determine how much employees were paid and what charges they made on their company credit cards, New Jersey Law Journal reported.
Dunlea confessed to his wrongdoing and apologized, offering to repay the firm by cashing in his 401K retirement savings plan, wiring them $366,000, according to the lawsuit. Dunlea did not make any subsequent payments to the law firm, according to the lawsuit.
To read the NJ.com story, click here. To read the New Jersey Law Journal story, click here.
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