NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana woman working as a 911 dispatcher for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office has been accused of refusing to return more than $1.2 million mistakenly deposited into her brokerage account, authorities said.
Kelyn Spadoni, 33, of Harvey, Louisiana, was arrested on Wednesday, April 7 and charged with theft valued over $25,000, bank fraud and illegal transmission of monetary funds, sheriff’s office spokesperson Jason Rivarde told NOLA.com. Spadoni has been a dispatcher for the sheriff’s office for just over four years.
According to authorities, Charles Schwab & Co. mistakenly deposited the money into Spadoni’s brokerage account.
Spadoni is being sued in federal court by the brokerage firm, which accused her of avoiding their calls, text messages and emailed attempts to recover the money, according to media reports.
“It’s not her money. She has no legal claim to that money,” Rivarde told the website. “Even if it was put in there by mistake. It was an accounting error.”
According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans, Spadoni opened an account with Schwab in January. About a month later, the company installed an enhancement to the software used to transfer assets.
On Feb. 23, 2021, Schwab intended to transfer $82.56 into a Fidelity Brokerage Services account owned by Spadoni. But instead, the company transferred $1,205,619, according to court records. Staffers immediately tried to stop or reclaim the transfer, but were unable to.
When Schwab attempted to reclaim the money, the company’s request was rejected because the money was not available.
“She secreted it, and they were not able to access it,” Rivarde told the website.
Detectives determined that Spadoni used some of the money to buy a house and a 2021 Hyundai Genesis sport utility vehicle that could cost as much as $70K, Rivarde said.
Spadoni is being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. Bail was set at $50,000.
