El Dorado Springs woman sentenced for embezzling $380,000

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

An El Dorado Springs, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for a mail fraud scheme by which she stole more than $380,000 from her employer and to filing a false tax return.

Regina Allison, 47, of El Dorado Springs, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 30 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Allison to pay $460,404 in restitution, including $380,134 to Allison Tire Company, Inc., and the remainder to the IRS and the Missouri Department of Revenue.

On Jan. 20, 2017, Allison pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.

Allison was hired by Allison Tire Company and Allison Oil and Auto Supply in 2003. As a part of her duties at the company, which is owned in part by her ex-husband, Allison prepared company checks for payment of invoices. Allison was fired from her position in November 2015 after her supervisors discovered that she had forged numerous checks from the accounts of Allison Tire and Allison Oil to pay fictitious businesses she had created for her personal benefit.

Allison opened two bank accounts, one at a bank in Bolivar, Mo., and another at a bank in Nevada, Mo., under the names of two separate businesses. Neither of the business entities actually created any products or provided any services. Allison admitted that she used her position at Allison Tire and Allison Oil to write numerous company checks to these fictitious businesses, and forged the signatures of authorized signors.

Over the span of nearly four years, from November 2011 to November 2015, Allison embezzled a total of at least $380,134.

Allison also admitted that she failed to report this embezzled income on her federal income tax returns. The total tax loss to the United States was $58,813, without penalty or interest. The total tax loss to the state of Missouri was $16,315, without penalty or interest.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey Clark and Amy Blackburn. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.