A 49-year-old woman from Shepherdsville, Kentucky, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for embezzling over $1 million from a family-owned business in Greenfield, Indiana. As the office manager, she inflated her salary, added her husband to the payroll, redirected customer payments to her personal account, and used company credit cards for personal expenses. Her fraudulent activities from 2016 to 2022 caused significant financial strain on the company.
In addition to her prison sentence, the former office manager must forfeit four vehicles and pay a judgment of $1,002,268.
“This criminal abused her position of trust to swindle a family-owned company out of over a million dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers. “This serious federal prison sentence should send the message that this conduct will not be tolerated.”
The FBI, Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office, and Hancock County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II imposed the sentence, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Corbin Houston prosecuted the case.
Click here to read the full press release.
Prevent This From Happening TO YOU!
To mitigate the risk of internal fraud, especially within the accounting department, companies can adopt several best practices. Some of these include:
- Implement strong internal controls: establish clear policies and procedures for financial transactions and ensure they are followed consistently. This includes segregation of duties, where different individuals are responsible for different aspects of financial activities, to prevent any single person from having too much control or opportunity for fraud.
- Regularly review financial records: conduct periodic internal audits and review of financial records to identify any irregularities or discrepancies. This can help prevent fraudulent activities early on and prevent further losses.
- Conduct periodic external audits: engage external auditors to conduct independent reviews of the organization’s financial records and internal controls. This can provide an objective assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls and identify areas for improvement.
- Monitor and analyze financial data: utilize data analytics tools to monitor financial transactions and identify any unusual patterns or anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activities.
Source: journalofaccountancy.com, smallbusiness.chron.com
Make Sure Your Clients Take a Proactive Approach To Protecting Their Business Should a Loss Occur
Make sure your clients have crime insurance. Take the steps to ensure that your clients are covered by calling one of the Berkley Crime team members listed below.
Sincerely,
Michael Beranek
Berkley Crime
Experts focused on your protection. We deliver.
| National Practice Leader Michael Beranek (646) 522-7362 [email protected] | East Regional Manager/Commercial Crime Product Leader Matt McNamara (212) 497-3707 [email protected] |
| West Regional Manager Brian Platt (720) 979-1155 [email protected] | Renewal Team Leader Cheryl Yorio (860) 466-7379 [email protected] |