A former employee of New York City's Human Resource Administration, the nation's largest social services agency, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Thursday for her involvement in a scheme to steal over $300,000 in funds meant for the city's most needy.

Eliana Bauta and two other defendants were accused in November 2018 of diverting emergency benefits funds to family members and acquaintances for bogus reasons, for instance a natural disaster that never actually occurred. Funds went to pay someone for putting a hex on Bauta's former boyfriend, prosecutors claimed.

Federal authorities also claimed to have redirected emergency benefit checks issued for actual HRA clients. She then shared the checks with her co-defendants and others, who deposited them into their own accounts.

In both instances, according to prosecutors, those who were in on the schemes shared the proceeds with Bauta.

“HRA employees like Eliana Bauta are trusted to use their positions to help people in need.  Instead, as she has now admitted, Bauta egregiously abused that trust, working with her co-conspirators to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for New York's needy,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York said in a statement. “As the guilty pleas in this case indicate, we remain vigilant in seeking out and prosecuting abuses of trust by City employees and remain committed to ensuring that federal and local funds go to their intended recipients.”

Miedel & Mysliwiec name attorney Aaron Mysliwiec represented Bauta. He declined to comment on his client's plea.

Bauta pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, who handled previous pleas with the two co-defendants, Geraldine Perez and Eric Gonzalez, in February. On top of Bauta's action, prosecutors claimed Perez directed $91,000 worth of Treasury checks into the accounts of the same friends and acquaintances. She then split the proceeds with a tax preparer who helped with the scheme, according to prosecutors.

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