A Pennsylvania woman has stolen more than $1.1 million from four different employers while holding executive financial roles at each one.
Clairton resident and 58-year-old Tracey Smith has pleaded guilty to four counts of bank fraud after stealing money from four employers while serving in an executive position, reports TribLIVE.
In a 2020 lawsuit, Smith was accused of stealing tens of thousands from two companies while serving as chief financial officer. As the case was still pending, Smith was hired in June 2022 by a Pittsburgh engineering firm as a comptroller and had access to the company’s payroll.
Authorities say Smith abused her position and used two company credit cards to fund her personal expenses to the tune of $51,520. Smith also reimbursed herself for company expenses amounting to $188,123 and used company checks to overpay herself $426,659.
In February 2023, Smith was sentenced to 15 months behind bars and was ordered to pay $113,000 in restitution for defrauding the first two companies. In April of the same year, Smith was required to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and told the Pittsburgh engineering firm that she was leaving to “take care of her sick aunt.”
A few months after her release in February 2024, she was hired by another Pittsburgh firm as a financial controller, where she forged checks to herself and to petty cash, ultimately leading to $498,653 in losses.
Says the government,
“The financial and emotional impact of these most recent embezzlements to the last two respective company owners is saddening: deep financial troubles, employee layoffs, credit issues, personal health problems and the breach of trust to the employers. For smaller companies such as the last two victims, recovering from these staggering financial losses will leave permanent scars.”
Smith will now serve 76 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $1.17 million in restitution.
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