A Henderson woman was sentenced to more than five years in prison for embezzling more than $26 million from her employer, which led to her boyfriend kidnapping the owner of the business, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Cynthia Marie Marabella pleaded guilty in April to embezzling more than $26 million from her employer, acquiring high-end merchandise with the stolen monies, and then selling the things through an internet consignment shop.
On Wednesday, she was sentenced to five years and ten months in jail, followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to repay the money she took, according to the DOJ.
According to court filings, Marabella worked as a controller for a construction company in Las Vegas, where she oversaw accounts payable and receivable and received financial statements from numerous banks and credit card providers.
From January 1, 2018, to approximately February 28, 2025, Marabella admitted that she and her boyfriend and co-defendant, William Keolanui Costa, developed a conspiracy to steal money from Marabella’s employer, Gilmore Construction LLC.
According to the DOJ, Marabella and Costa fraudulently duplicated bonus checks and deposited the checks into bank accounts controlled by them; opened credit cards in other people’s names and made unauthorized charges, then paid the credit card bills with stolen funds; provided false accounting records to the employer; created forged and false bank statements; and sent fictitious invoices from merchant accounts, then paid the invoices with stolen funds.
They then spent the stolen money on luxurious houses, luxury automobiles, and private school tuition. According to the DOJ, Marabella used the stolen monies to acquire high-end clothing and sell it through an online consignment company.
Marabella and Costa embezzled more than $26 million from their job.
Following an inquiry into the fraud, in February 2025, Costa kidnapped the construction company’s owner, took him to an unknown location in the desert, and placed a gun to his back, according to an arrest record acquired by 8 News Now.
Costa and the owner then had an hour-long talk, during which Costa presented him with two possibilities. According to the police report, Costa would either help dismiss the accusations against Marabella by informing the IRS the money was a gift or an investment for a business, or he would murder his entire family, leaving his father and himself alive to witness the murders.
The owner promised to speak with his father and business partner about “fixing” the situation. When the owner returned home, he called the police to report the kidnapping, according to the report.
Costa entered a plea agreement on February 9 and admitted to one count of first-degree kidnapping and one count of extortion.
The prosecutors sought a sentence of 57 months in jail.
Leave a Reply