In my work with SMBs, it is genuinely exciting to watch our clients cross new growth thresholds. More revenue brings new hires, and new hires can bring... well, sometimes it depends. A recent employee embezzlement case sheds light on the constant focus that CEOs and Founders need to maintain as the enterprise brings in new talent and scales up.
Pamela Aguilar, 65, the former CFO of a Danbury, Connecticut software company reportedly identified as MaxQ Technologies, pleaded guilty in June to wire fraud after admitting that she stole $739,466.44 from her employer between approximately 2018 and 2025. She used ACH and wire transfers, checks, cash withdrawals, PayPal and credit card payments to divert company money for her own benefit.
What makes the case particularly interesting is how she concealed it. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Aguilar provided the company’s CEO with false weekly cash reports and false monthly financial statements. It wasn't like the CEO had vacated his duty of oversight; rather, the reports themselves were a key part of the fraud. The company's reported annual revenues were in the low single digit millions, meaning that the amount that Aguilar was siphoning off, roughly $9,000/month, may have accounted for 5-8% of monthly revenue. So, just enough to allow her to boost her lifestyle, but also low enough to evade the CEO's notice for several years.
It is a classic controls issue - the executive with access to the company’s money was also providing management with the information it relied upon to determine what was happening to that money. For owners of growing businesses, the lesson is not that you should distrust your CFO. Rather, the question is whether trust is being independently verified.
We constantly work with Founders and Management who get a bad whiff coming from somewhere inside the organization, but may not be confident of how or where to start investigating. In Aguilar's case, she began the scheme very quickly after beginning the job, which is often what we see. It is always a good idea to enlist outside help to poke and prod until you can uncover whether there is a problem. The longer you wait, the worse it gets.
-Keith Bova