Delta employee Emily McElwaney accused of embezzling for years

Authorities say a former executive assistant to two senior vice presidents for Delta Air Lines, Emily McElwaney, is facing federal wire fraud charges and is accused of embezzling more than a $250,000 from the company by abusing a corporate credit card.
 
According to a federal complaint, from 2007 to 2014 McElwaney used her corporate credit card to make payments for personal expenses, including restaurants, fuel, personal items and American Express gift cards.

Investigators believe McElwaney then logged onto Delta’s expense-approval system using another individual’s credentials and ”approved the expenses as if they were legitimate business expenses.
 
”If you’ve got a lot of money and somebody who really wants to take it and you’ve got someone who is creative and smart, you can get around it and it looks like that’s what happened, said criminal defense attoey Page Pate.
 
He says these crimes are surprisingly common.
 
”Even at large companies where you think they would have controls in place to prevent this, it happens all the time, Pate said.
 
"Delta conducted a thorough investigation of this former employee’s conduct and tued the matter over to the justice system when our investigation concluded," said a Delta representative.
 
McElwaney is expected in court for a plea hearing on Jan. 19.