Personal assistant Catalina Corona pleads guilty to stealing $10M from wealthy LI couple
Prosecutors said Catalina Corona stole nearly $10 million from her Long Island employers to purchase high-end fashion accessories, airline tickets and to pay off her credit card bills. Credit: AP/John Raoux
A personal assistant to a wealthy elderly married couple from Lawrence pleaded guilty on Wednesday to stealing nearly $10 million from her employers to purchase high-end fashion accessories, airline tickets and to pay off her credit card bills, federal prosecutors said.
Catalina Corona, 62, of Corona, Queens, pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to wire fraud. Prosecutors had dismissed a count of aggravated identity theft.
She faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, along with restitution and fines, when she is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis.
"Today’s guilty plea means the defendant has been held accountable for a calculated scheme that siphoned nearly $10 million from the very employers who trusted her," said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Joseph Nocella Jr.
Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, Corona's Manhattan-based defense attorney, said his client "took responsibility for her actions. This is the first step toward putting this unfortunate episode behind her."
Between 2017 and 2024, Corona was working as a personal assistant to a couple, identified in court on Wednesday as Richard J. Schmeelk and his wife of 44 years, Priscilla Schmeelk. The couple lived in both Lawrence and Palm Beach, Florida.
During her time working for the Schmeelks, Corona deposited hundreds of checks, written out to cash — and made payable to herself — from the victim's bank accounts without their knowledge or consent, prosecutors said.
Corona also posed as Priscilla Schmeelk when calling the victims’ bank to request information related to their accounts, prosecutors said.
In April 2024, Priscilla Schmeelk received a call from the bank inquiring about checks written out to cash, authorities said.
She explained that she never wrote checks out to cash and later discovered that Corona had been forging checks and withdrawing money from their account, prosecutors said.
Investigators also found that Corona was transferring funds directly from the victims’ accounts into her own personal accounts, prosecutors previously said.
In total, Corona stole nearly $10 million that she used to pay off her credit card bills and to purchase luxury items from Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci and other high-end brands at stores on Long Island and in Queens.
Corona spent more than $1 million on Louis Vuitton items alone, including luggage, purses valued at more $10,000, and apparel, prosecutors said. In just one day, Corona used more than $25,000 in stolen funds for airline travel, records show.
Richard Schmeelk, who died in 2022, was a U.S. Navy veteran who served in World War II and worked for 40 years at Salomon Brothers, an investment banking firm, as a general partner and member of the company's executive committee.
Known as "Mr. Canada," he was instrumental in opening investment borders between the United States and Canada, and donated significant funds for education in both nations, according to an online obituary.
In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI bestowed upon Schmeelk the Knighthood in the Order of St. Gregory the Great for his work on behalf of the Catholic Church.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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