Payroll worker suspected of embezzling $1.2 million from Irvine company

FBI agents on Friday morning arrested a Downey woman who they say embezzled more than $1.2 million from an Irvine-based real estate investment company.

Trisha Chopin, 48, was the only payroll administrator for Steadfast Cos., where, according to the FBI, she wrote herself checks between 2008 and 2015.

Because she controlled payroll reports, Chopin was able to make it look like the checks were payments to other workers, including recently terminated employees, according to a federal indictment.

“According to investigators, Chopin used the proceeds from the embezzlement to fund lavish vacations and for a variety of personal expenses,” federal officials wrote in a news release.

Chopin was expected to appear in court Friday to face four counts of wire fraud.

If convicted, she could receive a maximum sentence of 80 years in federal prison.