Malden woman sentenced to prison for embezzling more than $795,000 from employer

A Malden woman was sentenced Friday to three years in federal prison for embezzling more than $795,000 from her employer, a lawyer who specialized in elder law, the US Attorney’s office said.

Kayla Figelski, 34, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $796,747 in restitution, the office said in a statement.

Figelski pleaded guilty in US District Court in Boston to seven counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in May 2021, the statement said.

Figelski stole at least $796,747 from her employer from April 2017 to June 2019 by forging checks to herself from her employer’s checking accounts to deposit in her own account, the statement said.

The money came from elderly clients’ conservatorship and trust and estate administration accounts, the office said. She altered bank statements to hide her embezzlement so checks appeared to come from legitimate vendors.

Her employer had to sell the building of her law practice, which was owned by her family since 1976, because of Figelski’s theft, the statement said.