Exec for Juan Valdez coffee sentenced to jail in $900,000 theft

Robert Besser
30 Jan 2023, 09:35 GMT+10

After being convicted of stealing more than $900,000 from the company, Rosita Joseph has been sentenced to three to six years in a New York state prison
Joseph was the former chief operating officer of NFCGC Investment, which manages US retail sales of Juan Valdez coffee and several Juan Valdez cafes
She pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny in the second degree

NEW YORK CITY, New York: After being convicted of stealing more than $900,000 from the company, Rosita Joseph, former executive at the North American operator of Juan Valdez coffee, has been sentenced to three to six years in a New York state prison.

After pleading guilty to one count of grand larceny in the second degree, Joseph, 52, former chief operating officer of NFCGC Investment, which manages US retail sales of Juan Valdez coffee and several Juan Valdez cafes, was sentenced by Justice Laura Ward of the Manhattan criminal court.

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that Brooklyn resident Joseph "brazenly fleeced her employer over more than five years to inflate her paychecks, pay for expensive vacations, including to the Bahamas and Barbados, and buy gold and diamond jewelry and Gucci accessories on Amazon.com."

She was sentenced after reaching a plea agreement.

In an email, Joseph's lawyer, Liam Malanaphy, said, "In expressing profound remorse, Ms. Joseph took full responsibility for her actions."

NFCGC fired Joseph after she had refused many requests for documents during a routine financial audit, prosecutors said, adding that she could have faced up to 15 years in prison on grand larceny charges.