The former chief financial officer of Alden Shoe Co., a family-owned footwear business in the Boston area has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for embezzling more than $30 million from the company in a long-running scheme.

Richard Hajjar agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud, unlawful monetary transactions, and filing a false tax return, prosecutors at the US attorney’s office in Boston said Wednesday.

The charges detail that from at least 2011 through October 2019, when he was terminated by Alden Shoe, Hajjar embezzled money by “writing checks to himself from company bank accounts and transferring funds from company accounts to his personal accounts and to another individual.”

Authorities believe that the now 64-year-old Hajjar gave nearly $15 million dollars to WCVB Anchor Bianca de la Garza.

de la Garza, who is no longer at WCVB ran a beauty business under the name BDG Enterprises.

A lawsuit, filed in June against de la Garza and her businesses to recover the $15 million, is also still open, according to Suffolk Superior Court records.

Michael Pabian, who represents de la Garza in the civil suit, said she was unaware of how Hajjar obtained the money. He confirmed the civil case is ongoing, and the parties agreed to extend the deadline for de la Garza’s response to May 14.

de la Garza claims that she was never been in a romantic relationship Hajjar.

H/T Boston Globe