A Florida woman who stole over $4 million from her employer and tried to fabricate her own death has received a 10-year prison sentence for wire fraud and money laundering. 

Madelyn Hernandez, 49, from Lee County, embezzled $4,199,498.42 from an unnamed textile and apparel supply chain company as stated in court documents. 

For 16 years, she worked for the company remotely until she started sending fake invoices from alleged supply companies, instructing payments to be directed to her bank accounts. 

Pretending It 

According to prosecutors, Hernandez was responsible for ordering from suppliers and overseeing shipping, invoicing, and inventory for the firm, which initially operated out of New York before transitioning to fully remote work in 2019. 

The fraudulent invoice operation lasted from 2018 to 2024. False suppliers consisted of a shell firm called Cape Prints, which Hernandez established in August 2019. 

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, she spent the stolen money on “personal expenses and gambling.” 

The plan fell apart in June 2024 when an internal investigation showed that many invoices, inventory records, and delivery proof documents provided by Hernandez were counterfeit. 

Undergoing an investigation, Hernandez contacted her employer pretending to be a family member, asserting that she had passed away from surgery complications. 

Returned From the Grave 

The business reached out to law enforcement, initiating an inquiry by the FBI and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. This resulted in the implementation of a search warrant at Hernandez’s home in October 2024, where she was astonishingly discovered alive and well. 

While under interrogation, she confessed to staging her own demise and stealing from her job. According to court documents, she stated that she “did not believe what she took was as much as $4 million.” 

Hernandez admitted guilt on January 28 this year and has been directed to forfeit the $4 million as a component of her punishment.