Woman Sentenced for Retirement Plan Embezzlement

retirement plan, 401k, theft, fiduciary

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An Oklahoma woman was sentenced last week to three years in federal prison for “embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a benefits plan for unionized engineers.”

The Oklahoman reports that 51-year-old Susan Michelle Tyson used the proceeds from her ill-gotten gains to “fix up her old house, make renovations to a new house, purchase a motorcycle and pickup, take vacations and give gifts to friends.

She admitted to taking a total of $467,352 of the retirement plan’s assets.

Tyson has a history of similar criminal activity, the paper adds, citing the prosecutor who said Tyson was convicted in 2000 in a similar case in Oklahoma City, but “spending only a few months in prison. Tyson also stole from a third employer, which was revealed during the 2000 investigation, according to prosecutors.”

Her attorney, Teresa Brown, said Tyson is remorseful, but U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton said Tyson “has no respect for the law, noting the previous conviction and a risk that she’ll cheat future employers,” and ordered Tyson pay $309,996 in restitution.

“Tyson, a former bookkeeper at Zenith American Solutions Inc. in Oklahoma City, was charged last year with wire fraud. In June, she pleaded guilty, admitting to making the fraudulent transfers to her own bank accounts between July 2014 and January 2017.”

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