THE GRAND EMBEZZLER REACHES THE END OF THE LINE

This financial tragedy would have been posted earlier on but for the fact that BLOGGER AND BLOGSPOT maintenance work were ongoing. So, finally, here is a single-handedly implausible business scam that nearly went unnoticed and scot free, so to say.

I guess it's really true that you should worry when your accountant refuses to go on a holiday as and when due:

[ Feds: Embezzler bought ranch, talking trees
POSTED: 1435 GMT (2235 HKT), January 23, 2007

Story Highlights
• Bookkeeper Angela Buckborough Platt is accused of embezzling $6.9M
• Feds say her shopping spree included ranch, horses, talking trees
• Platt has agreed to plead guilty and serve up to 57 months in prison
• Platt began writing checks to herself in 2000, authorities say


BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A bookkeeper for a construction materials company embezzled $6.9 million and used the money to go on a shopping spree that included a 104-acre ranch and a half-dozen talking trees like those in "The Wizard of Oz," federal authorities said Monday.

Prosecutors say Angela Buckborough Platt also bought eight show horses; a fleet of motor vehicles including a 1964 Ford Thunderbird; a house on five acres in Rhode Island; Hollywood-grade cinematic props to decorate her home for Halloween; and a life-size ceramic statue of Al Capone.

Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, said that when friends or relatives asked Platt about her wealth, she told them that she was the CEO of a corporation or that she and her husband had won the lottery.

Platt, 43, of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, was charged Monday with one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. She has agreed to plead guilty in a deal subject to court approval, Martin said.

Platt, formerly of Cumberland, Rhode Island, worked as a staff accountant for J&J Materials Corp. in Rehoboth from 1999 to 2006.

Authorities say that in June 2000, Platt began to write checks from company accounts to herself. The weekly deposits initially ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 but eventually neared $50,000, prosecutors said.

Her theft was discovered in June by another bookkeeper who had been newly hired to assist her.

"I'm not going to say anything one way or another, other than to say there is a plea agreement," said Platt's attorney, R. Bradford Bailey.

Martin said the agreement calls for Platt to spend between 46 and 57 months in prison.

J&J owner John Ferreira said he has received about $2 million in restitution so far, most of it in real estate, cars, horses and other items. He said Platt always seemed like a good employee.

"I'm angry, disappointed," Ferreira said. "She hurt a lot of people."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ]


SOURCE: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/LAW/01/23/talking.trees.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories