BOSTON (AP) - A former Bank of America manager has been charged with embezzling $1.5 million from a client company and using some of the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a luxury vehicle, prosecutors said Thursday.
Waqas Ali, 31, of Abington, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
Ali was the bank’s client relationship manager for the victim company, according to federal prosecutors in Boston.
Ali allegedly opened a checking account in the name of the company without its knowledge or authorization, and between September 2016 and July 2017, fraudulently transferred more than $1.5 million from the victim company’s accounts to a fraudulent account, prosecutors said.
He then used more than $600,000 of the money to pay for luxury items, including a $63,000 Porsche SUV and retail items at Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Christian Louboutin and Tag Heuer. He also used some money to pay off personal credit cards, authorities said.
The victim company was not disclosed.
Bank of America fired him in September 2018.
An email seeking comment was left with his federal public defender.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
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