The National League of POW/MIA Families flag flies over an Air Force base in 2014. (Defense Department)
A Virginia woman whose scheming almost liquidated a prominent advocacy organization for American prisoners of war now awaits punishment for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Jennifer Giorffino, a former administrator for the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Alexandria to a single count of wire fraud, according to the Justice Department.
She could receive a prison term of up to 20 years when she is sentenced next year, a DOJ statement said Thursday.
Between October 2022 and April this year, the 53-year-old Giorffino stole $257,259 from the nonprofit, also known as the National League of POW/MIA Families, court records state.
The organization was nearly out of money at the time of the embezzlement. It was slated to be dissolved after a Jan. 31, 2023, vote by its board of directors, according to a series of League statements between January and June 2023.
But less than two weeks later, an anonymous benefactor stepped in and pledged $400,000 annually over five years to fund the group, according to a February 2023 statement.
Ann Mills-Griffiths, who has led the organization since 1978, was listed as board chairwoman on League statements during the period in which the fraud took place. Mills-Griffiths did not reply Monday to an email seeking comment.
Giorffino’s job included processing donations. Instead, she used the money for personal retail purchases, according to the Justice Department.
She also stole Mills-Griffiths’ identity and fraudulently applied for at least 30 credit cards and lines of credit for additional spending, authorities said.
She made over $36,000 worth of purchases on one card alone and paid off the cards every month until April using League funds, the Justice Department statement said.
In February, Giorffino opened a checking account in the League’s name and began diverting checks and online donations into the account, accumulating $29,746, the Justice statement said.
The organization’s funds were largely drained by March, but she forged bank statements and wrote checks she knew would bounce, according to prosecutors.
The chairwoman’s credit card was declined at a restaurant around the same time the theft was discovered, the statement said. Giorffino gave the board falsified bank statements at an April meeting and she stopped working at the League on April 27, according to court records.
It is unclear what Giorffino was charged with before the plea deal was negotiated. A spokesman for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday declined to comment further.
In 1971, the League created the iconic black-and-white POW/MIA flag that currently flies over government and military institutions.
