EastTexasRadio.com Powered by Ten Stations
SHERMAN, Texas – A court sentenced a 50-year-old Whitewright woman to federal prison for violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox and FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno today. Beverly Diane Cross pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2019, to wire fraud and was sentenced to 102 months in federal prison Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III. She also must pay restitution of $620,408.14.
According to information presented in court, from 2015 through June 2019, Cross worked at MicroFab as its accountant. Cross abused her position of trust as the company’s accountant to embezzle funds from MicroFab. Cross falsified payroll data and other company documents to pay herself unearned salary amounts and undue expense reimbursements over four years. During the last two years of her fraud scheme, the average monthly cost of money she embezzled from the company totaled around four times her monthly salary. In one instance, Cross bought a car from another MicroFab employee for her son but stole the precise amount of money from MicroFab for the purchase. Cross’s fraudulent actions resulted in a loss of approximately $620,000 to MicroFab. They caused a considerable negative impact on the company and its employees, many of which suffered salary reductions, and two lost their jobs.
“The defendant methodically planned and executed a scheme to steal from her employer with total disregard for the company or her co-workers,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox. “However, she failed to account for the tenacity and perseverance of our federal agents and the very employers who trusted her.”
“The defendant’s decision to steal from her employer caused salary reductions, job loss, and erased the earnings the company worked to accumulate for over 35 years,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno. “Financial crime is not a victimless crime. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will pursue anyone who uses their position of trust for personal gain.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Frisco Resident Agency of the Dallas Field Office and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd M. Blessing and the Assistant United States Attorney Christopher A. Eason.