Former Gateway Packaging controller pleads guilty to stealing nearly $200K

A former employee at Gateway Packaging, a stock product and packaging company in Murrysville, Westmoreland County, pleaded guilty this week in federal court to stealing nearly $200,000 from the company and falsifying financial statements to cover it up, prosecutors said.

Victoria Mazur, 52, of Plum, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection to the thefts, which occurred from December 2012 until December 2017, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. Mazur was employed as a controller for the company at the time.

Mazur issued herself and her husband a total of approximately 189 fraudulent credit card refunds through the company’s point of sale terminal, resulting in a total loss of $190,829, federal prosecutors claimed. She also charged $4,200 to the company’s credit cards for personal use.

To cover up the fraud, Mazur gave the owners false financial statements that understated the company’s true sales figures, Brady said.

Mazur’s sentencing has been set for March 24. She faces a total sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.