93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
A Jefferson City woman admitted to embezzling more than $65,000 from her employer.
Laura Lynn Winge, 47, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of bank fraud and one count of theft from an employee benefit plan.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Winge worked as a bookkeeper for Turk’s Construction, Inc., a residential construction company, and an affiliated company, Pools Unlimited, LLC, which builds in-ground swimming pools and spas, from July 2009 until she left employment on March 11, 2016. Company employees participated in an IRA plan that was administered by Winge.”
Winge admitted that she withheld $56, 876 of the IRA plan deferrals from employees’ payroll from Jan. 1 2013 to March 31, 2016, but never forwarded them to their individual accounts. She also never forwarded the required employer matching contributions of $38,913. She kept those funds for her and another person’s use.
She also made out $12,871 in payroll checks to herself, inflated her hours by $19,073, spent $5,447 on the companies’ credit card, and $11,822 in health insurance premiums for her dependents.
She also admitted to getting $16,316 in services from the companies and never paying for them. She amended the invoices to show paid.
She faces up to 35 years in federal prison.
(This story was last updated at 4:41 a.m. Friday.)
