Philadelphia Bookkeeper Sentenced for Embezzling Nearly $1.6M from Employer

A Philadelphia bookkeeper who embezzled nearly $1.6 million from his New Jersey employer over a 10-year period has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison.

Peter Goodchild must also pay restitution under the sentence imposed Thursday.

Prosecutors say the 56-year-old Goodchild opened a PayPal account in the name of his Florham Park-based employer, then moved money from its bank account to the PayPal account. He then moved the funds to another account belonging to his girlfriend.

Once the money reached his girlfriend’s account, Goodchild transferred it into his personal bank accounts. He covered up the embezzlement by making false financial entries on files he maintained for his employer.

Goodchild ran the scheme from 2005 to 2015. He was convicted in April on 65 counts, including wire fraud and money laundering.

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