Ex-Bookkeeper Sentenced In $400,000 Theft

FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) -- A woman who stole more than $400,000 while working as a bookkeeper at a central New Jersey firm has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Rebecca Cirillo of Atlantic Highlands must also pay more than $290,000 in restitution under the sentence imposed Friday.

Cirillo had pleaded guilty in September to theft by deception and three counts of filing a fraudulent tax return. The 34-year-old admitted stealing the money from Ansorge Unlimited, a Red Bank-based marketing and advertising agency, by diverting 325 company checks into her personal account.

Details on why Cirillo took the money and what she used it for were not disclosed.

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