Personal assistant pleads guilty to stealing $10M from elderly Salomon Bros. exec to buy Louis Vuitton, Gucci
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Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/04/09/business/personal-assistant-pleads-guilty-to-steal…
fact_checkFact-Check Results
13 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.
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Insufficient Evidence
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“A New York woman who worked as a personal assistant pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $10 million from her elderly employers – a Salomon Brothers banker and his wife – to fund a lavish lifestyle including goods from Louis Vuitton and Gucci.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm the claim about Catalina Corona stealing $10 million.
“From about 2017 through 2024, Catalina Corona, 62, repeatedly deposited hundreds of checks written to cash – made payable to herself – from the late Richard Schmeelk and his widow Priscilla’s accounts to pay her credit card bills and snag high-end goods from Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Gucci, according to court filings.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm the claim about checks deposited between 2017-2024.
“Richard Schmeelk, who worked for 40 years at Salomon Brothers, died at 97 in May 2022, two years before the fraudulent check scheme was exposed.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia results retrieved were unrelated to Richard Schmeelk's death (e.g., Order of Canada, Madame Tussauds, New York Knicks). No evidence confirms his death in May 2022 at 97.
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— Five honorary appointments to the Order of Canada are permitted per year by the order's constitution. The following is a list of all honorary appointments to date. Names rendered in italics were later…
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_appointments_to_the_O…
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— The following is a list of wax figures which are currently displayed or have been displayed at one of the Madame Tussauds museums.
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— The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks co…
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“He was a World War II veteran who was knighted by Pope Benedict XVI, according to his obituary, and a member of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Fla., club.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm Richard Schmeelk's WWII service or knighthood by Pope Benedict XVI.
“Schmeelk was similarly ripped off by his then-executive secretary, Bebe Fazia Laljie, decades earlier, when she diverted checks that he had signed for his personal expenses for her own use over nearly three years, a New York federal appeals court ruled in 1999.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm the 1999 federal appeals court ruling against Bebe Fazia Laljie.
“Laljie was convicted of mail and bank fraud in 1998 at a Manhattan federal court following a jury trial presided over by now-Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She was sentenced to 46 months in prison and restitution payments of $505,532.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm Bebe Fazia Laljie's 1998 conviction and sentencing.
“According to federal prosecutors, Corona started working for the elderly couple in January 2017 and soon started stealing from them by forging checks that were made out to 'cash.'”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm Catalina Corona's employment timeline or check forgery.
“On multiple occasions, Corona even started calling the bank claiming to be one of the victims to get information on the couple’s bank accounts, according to prosecutors.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm Catalina Corona impersonating victims to contact banks.
“During her yearslong scheme, she allegedly spent more than $1 million in stolen funds at Louis Vuitton; hundreds of thousands of dollars at both Cartier and Gucci; and $305,000 on Apple products, mostly at stores in Queens and Long Island.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm spending on Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci, or Apple products.
“She also used the money to pay off her credit card bills and book plane tickets, filings stated.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm use of stolen funds for credit cards or plane tickets.
“But that didn’t stop Corona, who kept looting from his widow’s accounts until she was caught in 2024 when a bank employee contacted Priscilla Schmeelk about a suspicious $1,500 check, according to court records.”
PENDING
“She faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, as well as restitution and fines, according to the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.”
PENDING
“Richard Schmeelk co-founded his own firm, CAI Managers. He was a World War II veteran who was knighted by Pope Benedict XVI, according to his obituary, and a member of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Fla., club.”
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Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.