The Latest: Cashier accused of stealing $9.5M to make amends

PITTSBURGH – The Latest on a cashier charged with stealing at least $9.5 million from the company where she worked (all times local):

4:25 p.m.

A lawyer for a cashier accused of stealing at least $9.5 million from the Pittsburgh monuments and engraving firm where she worked says she intends to “right the situation.”

Fifty-five-year-old Cynthia Mills is accused of stealing the money while working for Matthews International Corp. from 1999 to 2015. They say she cashed checks made out to Matthews or had them routed to a bank account of a bogus company she controlled.

Her attorney, Phil DiLucente, says Mills has and will continue to co-operate with the federal government and the company.

He says Mills will “continue to right the situation by relinquishing any interest she owns, including valuables and money.

Prosecutors say she used the money to buy items including dozens of Louis Vuitton handbags, a yacht and 19 fur coats.

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12:50 p.m.

Federal prosecutors say a cashier at a Pittsburgh monuments and engraving firm stole at least $9.5 million from the company during the 16 years she worked there.

The charges filed Wednesday against 55-year-old Cynthia Mills include tax evasion and money laundering. Her attorney says he plans to comment on the charges later Wednesday.

A spokesman for Matthews International Corp. says the company has been co-operating with federal authorities on the theft since 2015.

The company said in a financial report that year that a former employee was suspected of stealing $14 million, and prosecutors filed petitions to seize a $645,000 yacht, two Mercedes automobiles and a Ford Focus believed bought with the money.

Prosecutors didn’t immediately explain the discrepancy in the alleged theft amount.