A woman is now behind bars charged with stealing more than $800,000 worth of intellectual property from her former job to allegedly build her own company.
According to investigators, Catalina Morales, 43, stole trade secrets, cosmetic formulas, raw materials, finished products, labels and packaging materials from the cosmetics company LaDove in Miami Lakes, which sells skincare and other products.
Morales worked for the company for 20 years, investigators said. In 2019, officials said she devised a plan to steal the company’s formulas and some of their products to start her own company.
According to the arrest report, Morales quit her job in 2023 and started her own company months later.
Investigators said Morales ran her new business out of a warehouse in Hialeah.
On multiple occasions, LaDove products and raw materials were seen being brought into Morales’ warehouses, investigators said.
According to the police report, Morales’s husband was also part of the alleged scheme.
Morales faces a long list of charges, including grand theft and embezzlement or theft of trade secrets, jail records say.
The suspect was ordered to stay away from the company in Miami Lakes and from the president of the company.