NEW YORK - Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced Thursday that a public relations finance manager for Saks Fifth Avenue has been charged with stealing at least $680,000 from the company in a phony invoicing scheme.

The defendant, Ava John, 51, was charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Money Laundering in the Second Degree, Forgery in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, and Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.

Javonca Weillington-Watson, 32, John’s niece and an accomplice in the scheme, was also charged.  

As finance manager at the main Saks headquarters in Manhattan, John was responsible for coordinating the work and payment of outside vendors hired by Saks for special events at the store, such as trunk shows and cosmetic and fashion line debuts.

The complaint charges that beginning in April 2003, John began creating and submitting fraudulent invoices requesting payment for freelance, modeling, housekeeping, and consulting services supposedly provided to Saks by various vendors and individuals at special events.

The fraudulent invoices contained forged approval stamps of John’s supervisors and directed that the payment checks be returned directly to John for distribution. In fact, no legitimate services had been provided and the individuals to whom the checks were issued were relatives and associates of John who would kick a portion of the money back to John after cashing or depositing their checks. JOHN submitted over 300 fraudulent invoices to Saks for payment between 2003 and August 2008, totaling $680,000.00.