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Travel marketing boss pleads guilty to fraud, facing 20 years in prison
A marketing executive is facing a long stretch in prison after posting a guilty plea to defrauding two major travel brands.
Rebecca Jelfo, 47, pleaded guilty to charges alleging she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a major airline and a hospitality company.
She faces up to 20 years in prison.
According to court documents she defrauded the two companies out of more than $855,000.
Due to the plea deal neither company has been publicly identified, although a LinkedIn profile for Rebecca Jelfo lists previous roles as Americas’ head of marketing at Qatar Airways and senior director, global brand marketing at Hilton.
Jelfo created bogus and filed inflated invoices from vendors for various marketing services and products, according to court filings.
Part of her role at both companies was to approve invoices from vendors.
"At both companies, Jelfo was entrusted with the ability to approve significant marketing expenses on behalf of her employer without any oversight. Jelfo abused that position of trust in furtherance of her scheme," the filing said.
The fraudulently obtained money was used to service her personal credit card debts and other purchase and expenses.
She faces a sentencing hearing on December 10.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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