WEST HAVEN — A former employee for Croatia’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations in New York City was arrested Friday for embezzling $750,000 from her then-employer, federal officials said.
Officials said Supina-Saltus stole the money while working in a financial administrative capacity for the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations from 2017 until her termination in 2023.
“When someone is given access to an organization’s finances, they are being trusted — plain and simple,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “Renata Supina-Saltus allegedly abused that trust and turned the Croatian Mission into a personal piggy bank, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Officials said Supina-Saltus had unique access to the diplomatic mission’s vendor payment systems and was authorized to process invoices, allowing her to embezzle funds into her own personal bank accounts.
Officials said she sometimes made double payments for certain invoices and at other times created fake invoices — sometimes from fictitious vendors — and directed the fraudulent payments to bank accounts under her control.
In a federal complaint, prosecutors said Supina-Saltus used the funds on her “expensive lifestyle,” which included airfare, hotels, rent, mortgage payments, online purchases, ATM withdrawals and her children’s college tuition.
Officials said the investigation involved Homeland Security Investigations, the New York City Police Department and the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia.