Friday, September 25, 2009

Illinois Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty In $266K Embezzlement Scheme

Mary R. Storer, 40, of Wood River, Illinois, pleaded guilty to embezzling $266,056 from Elk Heating and Cooling, a local business for which she had been employed as office manager and bookkeeper. According to prosecutors, Storer's scheme began in 2006 shortly after she was hired by the company by having manager's sign stacks of checks, some of them blank, ostensibly to pay for office supplies, which she then cashed. She also took cash payments from clients, promising a discount on their invoices. Finally Storer manipulated the payroll such that she would take employee withholdings for retirement and vacation time. Specifically, Storer pleaded guilty to tax evasion, willful failure to file federal income tax returns, embezzlement from an employee benefit plan and failure to pay employment taxes. Her thefts were reportedly motivated by a gambling habit. She faces up to 16 years in prison.

Read the story here, here and here.

Read the DOJ announcement here.

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