Woman faces sentence for embezzling $1M

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A woman who worked as an office manager for an investment company in Greenwich faces sentencing after pleading guilty to a charge related to the embezzlement of about $1 million from her employer.

Claire Balducci of Stratford is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in Hartford. She pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December.

Federal prosecutors say Balducci issued checks from the firm's business accounts to herself and deposited them in her personal account. She was also accused of opening a credit card account in the name of the company's managing partner and making unauthorized charges for her personal expenses.

Her attorney says in court papers she struggled for many years with a heroin addiction that led her to steal money but is clean and accepts responsibility for her offense.