A former personal assistant who pleaded guilty to embezzlement last month dropped a civil lawsuit yesterday against her one-time boss, the founder and managing partner of the private equity firm Caxton-Iseman Capital LLC. Fatima Monahan, 36, had accused her former boss, Frederick Iseman, of sexual harassment.

Monahan admitted that she only brought the civil lawsuit to “deflect attention” from her own crimes. In August she pleaded guilty to embezzlement, having charged $45,000 of luxury clothing, shoes and other personal items to Mr. Iseman’s credit card between June and November 2006. At the time, she was making $125,000 a year as Mr. Iseman’s assistant.

Following her guilty plea, Monahan agreed to pay $45,000 in restitution and is currently serving five years probation. Mr. Iseman said she has paid $22,500 so far.

Mr. Iseman called Monahan’s confession “a full repudiation of the disgusting lies she made up about me.”