Paralegal accused of embezzling over $1.5M from law firm clients

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Paralegal accused of embezzling over $1.5M…

Criminal Justice Paralegal accused of embezzling over $1.5M from law firm clients

By Debra Cassens Weiss

July 21, 2023, 9:02 am CDT

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Prosecutors have alleged that 54-year-old Jennifer Elaine Roarke of Hickory, North Carolina, transferred over $1.5 million into accounts that she controlled while working at a law firm from 2007 to 2021. Image from Shutterstock.

Updated: A paralegal has been charged with wire fraud for allegedly embezzling more than $1.5 million from clients of a law firm in Hickory, North Carolina.

Prosecutors allege that 54-year-old Jennifer Elaine Roarke of Hickory, North Carolina, transferred the money into accounts that she controlled while working at the firm from 2007 to 2021, according to a July 19 press release.

Law360 and the Hickory Record have coverage.

Roarke, also known as Jennifer Claveria, is accused of embezzling the money by making hundreds of wire transfers from client trusts managed by the firm, which was not named in the press release or the July 18 indictment.

Roarke allegedly used the money to buy personal items, make car and mortgage payments, and make credit card payments for herself and family members.

Roarke is represented by Mark Rosenblum, an assistant federal defender. Rosenblum declined to comment in an email to the ABA Journal.

Updated July 21 at 10:55 a.m. to report that Mark Rosenblum declined to comment.

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