A former campaign treasurer to Virginia Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) was sentenced Friday to 56 months in prison for three fraud schemes totalling $1.4 million, including $653,000 embezzled from Saslaw.
“Those who abuse a position of public and private trust by engaging in sophisticated fraud schemes will be held accountable for their actions,” U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the eastern district of Virginia said in a statement. “This prosecution should serve as a deterrent to anyone contemplating similar theft for their own benefit.
Wallis admitted the pair also used the same entities to take $368,400 from her husband’s employer, a logistics company in Dulles, where prosecutors said he was general counsel in charge of hiring outside lawyers.
Separately, Wallis admitted commingling with the couple’s personal funds $482,000 raised from colleges and a Hungarian businessman for a charity that the couple founded to lobby for funding for colleges serving people with autism and intellectual disabilities, according to court documents. Wallis said the couple have two special-needs sons.
