BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A Williamsville resident pleaded guilty to charges that she embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the business where she worked as a bookkeeper, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn’s office announced Friday.

Michele Boland, 52, entered a guilty plea to one count of second-degree grand larceny, a class C felony, and one count of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, a class E felony. She faces a maximum of 15 years when she is sentenced in November.

The DA’s office said that between 2016 and 2022, Boland stole $266,963 from her employer, a business in Orchard Park, by writing herself a series of checks and intentionally mislabeling the transactions as business expenses on the company’s accounting software.

Boland also paid herself several “bonus” checks through the company’s payroll provider and did not declare any of the additional payments on her taxes, the DA’s office said.

The company discovered Boland’s thefts after an investigation into irregularities on a company credit card.

Boland was released on her own recognizance. She will pay the $266,963 back to the business, as well as $16,400 in restitution to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, as part of her plea agreement.