Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. today announced the guilty plea of MICHAEL COLLINS, 61, for embezzling nearly $6 million from two companies where he worked as a marketing executive between March 2016 and April 2024. COLLINS pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to one count each of Grand Larceny in the First Degree and Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. He is expected to be sentenced on June 22, 2026, to 3-9 years in prison with judgement orders for the victim companies.

“Michael Collins exploited these companies for his own personal gain. He took millions for himself and made extravagant purchases, including luxury items and international travel. Our businesses and marketplaces cannot function properly when this type of fraud occurs, and we will continue to root out such brazen schemes,” said District Attorney Bragg.

As admitted in the defendant’s guilty plea, between March 8, 2016, and April 28, 2024, COLLINS embezzled $5,915,712 from two of his employers. First, he stole nearly $5 million while employed as the Chief Marketing Officer of a financial education company. In 2022, COLLINS left that company without the theft being detected and later became the Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer for an education-technology company, where he stole nearly $1 million. 

COLLINS used the same embezzlement scheme at both companies. He created and controlled two fictitious marketing consulting companies, Quattro Quadrati LLC and Regiondrivers LLC, which he incorporated in New York. To make them appear legitimate, he obtained multiple email addresses, phone numbers, websites, and bank accounts for each. COLLINS then used his position as a marketing executive to purportedly hire Quattro Quadrati and Regiondrivers as marketing vendors and consultants and submitted invoices for non-existent work which his employers paid. He submitted 144 fraudulent invoices to the financial education company and five invoices to the education-technology company. 

To hide the theft, COLLINS created presidents and employees of the Quattro Quadrati and Regiondrivers and registered email accounts to those names. He corresponded with those fictitious email addresses and forwarded those conversations to other employees at his workplaces, in some instances forwarding invoices for payment as well. COLLINS also asked the service he used to incorporate Quattro Quadrati and Regiondrivers if his identity could be “shielded or masked from anyone looking at the two entities through online services or research.” 

COLLINS transferred the funds from the Quattro Quadrati LLC and Regiondrivers LLC bank accounts directly to his personal bank accounts and used the stolen funds for executive club memberships, luxury brands, fine dining, and extensive travel and lodging, including over 150 flight tickets purchased during this period. He also used the stolen funds to pay for a $150,000 engagement ring from a boutique jewelry store purchased directly from a Quattro Quadrati bank account. 

Assistant D.A. Michael Luongo (Financial Frauds Bureau) is handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Hope Korenstein (Deputy Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau), Kelly Thomas (Deputy Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau), Kofi Sansculotte (Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau), Judy Salwen (Deputy Chief of the Investigation Division) and Executive Assistant D.A. Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division). Paralegals Jacob Sowers and Bailey Hanson are providing valuable assistance in this case. 

Principal Financial Investigator Loretta Mapp also provided valuable assistance in the investigation under the supervision of Irene Serrapica, Principal Deputy Bureau Chief of the Financial Investigations Unit, and Robert Demarest, Chief of the Forensic Accounting and Financial Investigations Unit. Rackets Investigator Kyle Breen and Supervising Rackets Investigator Ryan Lemon also provided assistance with the investigation. 

Defendant Information: 

MICHAEL COLLINS 

New York, NY 

Convicted:

• Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, one count
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, one count

 

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