Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General | https://www.justice.gov/
Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General | https://www.justice.gov/
Kristin Turney, 54, from Catawba, South Carolina, was sentenced to 51 months in prison and one year of supervised release for embezzling over $1.7 million from her employer. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina. Turney is required to pay restitution amounting to $1,754,204.13.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in North Carolina, under Special Agent in Charge Robert M. DeWitt, collaborated with U.S. Attorney Ferguson in this announcement.
“Turney was a trusted employee that pilfered money from an unsuspecting employer,” stated U.S. Attorney Ferguson. “Her conduct was not a lapse in judgement; it was a prolonged and deliberate pattern of deceptive behavior that nearly destroyed a small business. Today’s sentence is a reminder that embezzlement is not a shortcut to riches, but a path to federal prison.”
Court documents reveal that from 2016 to 2023, Turney defrauded her employer, a small family-operated business, by embezzling more than $1.7 million. Her responsibilities included overseeing financial matters, such as bank accounts, payroll, and tax filings. By exploiting her access, Turney was able to issue company checks to herself and deposit them into her personal accounts, making over 1,000 unauthorized deposits. To conceal the fraud, she falsified accounting records and misled the company's tax return preparer as well as the company's owner and employees. The company continues to feel the effects of this theft.
Turney pleaded guilty to wire fraud on November 8, 2024. She will report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon assignment to a federal facility.
The case was investigated by the FBI, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley led the prosecution.
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