CFO Convicted of Embezzling $1M for Designer Clothes

A federal jury in Chicago convicted former chief financial officer Tina Feuerstein of stealing more than $1 million from her employer. (justice.gov) Feuerstein, 53, of Hanover, Pennsylvania, was found guilty on April 9, 2026, after a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Jurors convicted her on eight counts of wire fraud. (justice.gov) Federal prosecutors said she spent five years using a company credit card to buy personal items, including designer apparel, luxury furniture, and everyday expenses. They said the charges topped $1 million. (justice.gov) Prosecutors said Feuerstein hid the spending by falsifying entries in the company’s general ledger, deleting items from the expense-reporting system, and preparing false consolidated financial statements. The Justice Department said those steps concealed more than 3,800 credit card charges. (justice.gov) The case centered on a basic corporate control: a chief financial officer is supposed to track spending, approve records, and give owners an accurate picture of costs. In this case, prosecutors said the executive in charge of those safeguards was the person bypassing them. (justice.gov) The employer was described in court only as a Pennsylvania company owned by a Chicago-area company, not by name. The criminal case was filed in federal court in Chicago in September 2024 and reached a verdict seven months later. (courtlistener.com; pacermonitor.com) The Justice Department said trial evidence also showed Feuerstein had previously embezzled more than $250,000 while working in the accounting department of another company. Prosecutors included that allegation in the post-verdict summary of the case. (justice.gov) Each wire-fraud count carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though federal sentences are often lower than the maximum. U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt set sentencing for Aug. 26, 2026. (justice.gov) The verdict closes the trial, but not the case. The next step is sentencing, where the court will decide prison time and financial penalties tied to the $1 million scheme prosecutors proved to the jury. (justice.gov);