San Francisco, California - Catherine O’Shea was arraigned Wednesday on charges of embezzling approximately $240,000 from her employer to pay her personal credit card bills, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Catherine O’Shea, 42, on January 6, 2015 on five counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. According to the Indictment, shortly after her employer, identified in the Indictment as C.J., gave her on line access to his business bank accounts to pay business-related expenses, O’Shea began using her employer’s business checking account and business line of credit to pay her personal credit card bills. To cover up her use of her employer’s money, O’Shea made false entries in the accounting records of the business, falsely claiming that the money had been used to pay for office rent or office supplies.

O’Shea made her initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco today before the Honorable Jacqueline Scott Corley, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge. She was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond and ordered to return on January 16, 2015, for a further detention hearing before the Honorable Jacqueline Scott Corley. O’Shea is also scheduled to appear on January 20, 2015, for an initial appearance before the Honorable Edward M. Chen, U.S. District Court Judge.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted of wire fraud, O’Shea faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, plus restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Denise Marie Barton is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Trina Khadoo. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.