KC Reporter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Independence, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for stealing more than $500,000 from her employer.

Tammy Myers, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 21 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Myers to pay $521,996 in restitution and to forfeit to the government $429,025, which represents her gain from the criminal conduct.

On Jan. 10, 2024, Myers pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Myers admitted that she embezzled over $500,000 from the company over a decade by paying her personal credit cards from company accounts and writing checks to herself that were pre-signed by the company’s owner. Her fraud scheme was discovered in 2022 when the company hired a consulting firm to review its finances.

Myers was employed by Builders Overhead Door Service, Inc., in Blue Springs, Mo., from 1998 through 2022. Myers became the head of accounting in 2012 and admitted that she engaged in a scheme to defraud Builders Overhead Door Service from January 2013 to December 2022.

Myers admitted she used the company’s bank account information to pay off the balances on her personal credit cards, totaling $429,025. All of the purchases on the credit cards were for personal expenses such as travel, entertainment, utilities, groceries, and retail shopping. Myers used company funds to pay for a helicopter trip in South Dakota and travel expenses for a family trip to Tennessee among other personal expenses.

In addition to paying her personal credit cards with company funds, Myers admitted she wrote checks to herself from the company’s bank account without authorization from the owner. She deposited these unauthorized checks into her personal bank account and spent that money on personal expenses; these unauthorized checks totaled $86,477.

Myers also admitted that while using company funds for her personal expenses and writing unauthorized checks to herself, she allowed the company to fall behind on payroll as well as real estate and sales taxes.

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Cooper and investigated by the FBI.

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