CONCORD, N.H. — A Maine woman has pleaded guilty to stealing over $500,000 from a New Hampshire company.

Jessica Pechtel, 35, from Springvale, Maine, was an office manager for a company in Somersworth, New Hampshire, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release Wednesday.

Prosecutors said between January 2019 and March 2021, the woman used her access to the company’s finances to make unauthorized purchases and transfers of funds to accounts that she controlled.

They said she transferred funds from the company’s bank accounts to her own, used its credit card, drafted checks payable to herself drawn from the company’s bank account, and stole nearly $44,000 in COVID-19 relief funds that were intended for the business.

The woman, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a plea agreement, faces sentencing on July 7. Several other charges were dropped, according to the agreement.

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