Media exec stole $413,000 from company card to fund lavish life

News.com.au

2 days ago

A successful media executive in New York stole over $413,000 AUD from her former employer to fund her lavish lifestyle, including designer clothing, expensive restaurants, boutique gyms, and luxury holidays.
Shannon Muldoon, 38, swindled her bosses at Food52, a recipe and lifestyle website, out of the staggering sum while flaunting her luxurious purchases on social media.
Muldoon had been the head of Studio 52 at the company, which managed the production for brand partnership deals.
According to The Cut, which published an exposé about her this week, she gained access to the company credit card in this role, as per court documents.
Muldoon was indicted last August for one count of second-degree grand larceny and accepted a plea deal for five years' probation this year, the outlet reported.
She has already paid approximately $23,000 AUD in restitution but could face additional penalties of up to approximately $400,000 and will be sentenced in September.
Her former colleagues have shared how they noticed a quick change in her appearance after she was promoted to head of the studio.
'She would talk about it, she would wear it, she would tell us about her couch that's vintage from Italy,' one former colleague told the publication.
Between 2021 and 2023, Muldoon stole more than $413,818 from Food52, with court documents suggesting the amount could have been even higher.
Her spending included $193,153 on clothes from high-end retailer Net-a-Porter and over $26,000 on flights.
Muldoon was initially hired at Food52 in early 2020 for a more junior role, having had experience at Bon Appétit and The New York Times.
Later that year, Muldoon was promoted to director of the newly formed Studio 52 department, overseeing the budget for brand campaigns.
This role came with a corporate card for expenses like props, food, drinks, and approved travel.
'Her clothes started getting better; her nail art was crazy, she got a lot of (cosmetic surgery). You could just tell she was going through a transformation,' said one former staffer.
Despite her role mainly requiring her to be in-studio, she often worked remotely, once hopping on a Zoom call from a beach bungalow with a Chanel clip in her hair.
'She'd sent me links for crazy Gucci jackets and be like, 'Should I do it? I might!'' recalled another former employee. 'Shannon was very brazen with her purchases'.
People started questioning how she funded her lifestyle, which she constantly posted about on Instagram, and included trips to Copenhagen, a tropical wellness retreat and to Malibu.
'I mean, we work in media. What the f**k?' one colleague recalled thinking.
However, people didn't question Muldoon because she was apparently 'kind' and 'generous,' often buying gifts for her colleagues and taking them out to fancy dinners.
But behind closed doors, some began thinking she was using her credit card for everything.
One staffer, who worked remotely, was told by Muldoon to come to New York, even though it wasn't part of their contract, and was told to put their hotel on the company card.
Initially, Muldoon's theft was subtle and involved vendors the company regularly worked with.
However, the charges later became unrelated, such as payments to the LIV Method, a private training gym popular among influencers.
According to internal records, Muldoon spent nearly $30,000 at Net-a-Porter in just one month, even though Food52 did not require dressing talent.
After Studio52 shut during the pandemic as part of a restructure, Muldoon was moved to oversee talent management, but her spending didn't stop.
A former employee said: 'She kind of goes off to the brand-partnerships team, but her credit card is still attached to all of our production.
'We were like, 'Why are our videos so expensive? We didn't have access to her personal credit-card statements – that was just her boss and the finance department.'
The company used a software to track expenses which assigned specific job codes to each advertising campaign.
As long as the team stayed within budget and expenses were correctly coded, the reports were approved.
Muldoon allegedly coded her fraudulent expenses as related to the advertising campaigns she managed.
Plus, brand partnerships was a major business, and the department continued to meet its margins and goals often enough despite her personal spending.
By 2023, Muldoon seemingly sensed the jig was up, and her colleagues heard less and less of her.
In March that year, she took medical leave for a month, telling work she was suffering from migraines and that doctors thought she might have multiple sclerosis.
In her absence, colleagues had to process her expenses and noticed suspicious charges, including $2435 to sneaker reseller StockX.
One staffer mentioned this transaction in a workplace Slack channel, to which Muldoon replied from medical leave, saying she had flagged it with someone from accounting.
But this response raised alarm bells for her colleagues, who were shocked she was replying to work messages while supposedly on medical leave.
Muldoon's new manager spotted other discrepancies and escalated the issue to finance.
They soon realised they were hundreds of thousands out of pocket.
Just before Muldoon was set to return from her leave, she told a colleague she had asked for more time off, but the company refused. When she returned, she was let go for misusing company funds.
Three months later, she flew to Mexico with flights she had previously bought using the company card.
In February 2024, she was hired at Substack, but worked there less than 90 days.
The situation was then brought to the Manhattan district attorney's office, which started preparing its case.
Court records show that, although Muldoon was caught, she managed to get away with much more.
'The $413,000 in unauthorised purchases is a very conservative estimate as to Ms Muldoon's theft,' the statement of facts reads.
'Her last purchase could've been her smartest – a one-way flight to some place far away,' said a former colleague. 'She should've fled the country when she had the chance.'