Source: Office of United States Attorneys
SAN JOSE – Monique Marie Dodson, the former controller of a Salinas construction company, was charged by information yesterday with six counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection with the alleged theft of more than $8 million from her employer.
According to the information, Dodson, 42, of Monterey County, was the controller of Company A, a civil contracting construction company headquartered in Salinas. Beginning around October 2021 until November 2023, Dodson allegedly conducted approximately 136 unauthorized wire transfers from Company A’s business account to her personal bank accounts that she falsely characterized as payments for materials for the company.
The information alleges that Dodson used a variety of means to conceal the unauthorized transfers to avoid detection and facilitate future transfers, including by intercepting and destroying paper bank statements sent by Company A’s bank documenting the unauthorized wire transfers. Dodson also allegedly downloaded Company A’s bank statements, modified the electronic bank statements by removing her name from wire transfer descriptions, and saved the altered bank statements in Company A’s records. The information further alleges that Dodson concealed the unauthorized wire transfers by falsely listing them in Company A’s expense accounts in the accounting journal.
Dodson is alleged to have conducted unauthorized wires totaling approximately $8,579,647.48.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen, and Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) made the announcement.
Dodson is scheduled to appear in federal district court in San Jose on Aug. 19, 2025, for an initial appearance and arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins.
An information merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 and 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the count of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Neal C. Hong is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Sahib Kaur. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI, IRS-CI, and FDIC-OIG.