The former controller of the Atlanta real estate closing firm once known as Morris Hardwick Schneider has pleaded guilty to a single fraud conspiracy charge.
As part of her plea deal, Asha Maurya—who rose from escrow account controller to chief financial officer of the law firm’s closing division—will continue to cooperate in the ongoing criminal case against a former firm partner, Nathan Hardwick IV. Hardwick faces multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and making false statements associated with more than $20 million that federal proscutors contend was embezzled from the law firm’s coffers. The resulting losses forced the firm, now known as Morris Schneider Wittstadt, into bankruptcy in 2015. Hardwick has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is currently free on a $1 million bond but is confined to his parents’ Dunwoody home and wears an ankle monitor while he awaits trial.
