Hammond Woman Sentenced & Ordered To Pay $381,759 in Restitution
Tracy Cox, 52, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon upon her guilty plea to wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Ms. Cox was sentenced to 24 months in prison, 2 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $381,759 in restitution
According to documents in the case, between May of 2011 and July of 2018, Ms. Cox used her position at a Gary, Indiana trucking company to defraud her employer. She diverted over $381,759 for her own use by creating approximately 400 unauthorized transfers. She devised a scheme in which she entered the payment system and authorized a series of check numbers to make them available for use by truck drivers. She then obtained the authorization codes for the checks, made them payable to herself, and filled in the dollar amount or obtained a cash advance. To cover her scheme, Ms. Cox altered years of bank statements to hide the true balances.
“When an employee takes advantage of an employer’s trust to steal for the employer, the consequences can have a trickle-down effect for the employer and the other employees, costing jobs and causing economic hardship,” said United States Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II. “My Office is dedicated to prosecuting fraud schemes like this and will continuously work with our law enforcement partners on these investigations.”
“Abusing the trust of your employer to further your own selfish and fraudulent scheme will not be tolerated by the FBI,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan. “The FBI takes our responsibility to identify and investigate those who would perpetrate these illegal activities seriously and will ensure they are held accountable.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip C. Benson.
