United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

WISE COUNTY, TEXAS, RANCHER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN FEDERAL
PRISON ON MONEY LAUNDERING CONVICTION

Susan Gail Ray Admitted Fraudulently Obtaining Approximately $6 Million From
Her Employer - the Gasparilla Inn in Boca Grande, Florida

FORT WORTH, Texas — Susan Gail Ray, of Bridgeport, Texas, was sentenced this morning in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth by U.S. District Judge John McBryde, to 120 months in prison and ordered to pay $5,784,892 restitution to the Gasparilla Inn, Inc. in Boca Grande, Florida, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Ray, 52, pled guilty in November to one count of money laundering, admitting that she defrauded the Gasparilla Inn by fraudulently transferring money out of its bank account and into her own personal bank accounts while she was employed as its comptroller. Ms. Ray is currently in federal custody.

Ray began working as the Gasparilla Inn’s comptroller in 2000 and between October 2002 and January 2007, she fraudulently obtained approximately $6,009,500 from the Inn. Ray was responsible for calculating payroll for Gasparilla Inn and transferring payroll funds from the company’s bank accounts. She submitted payroll figures to Gasparilla Inn, then, after receiving approval, drafted new bank transmittal forms that contained fraudulently inflated payroll figures. She then submitted the forms to Englewood Bank and instructed Englewood Bank to transfer the fraudulently increased amounts from Gasparilla Inn’s general account to its payroll account.

After the fraudulently increased sums were wired into Gasparilla Inn’s payroll account, Ray wired the excess funds from Englewood Bank in Boca Grande, Florida, into her own personal bank accounts at USAA Federal Savings Bank in San Antonio, Texas, and MacDill Federal Credit Union in Tampa, Florida. After wiring funds into her accounts, Ray withdrew the fraudulently obtained funds and deposited those funds into her account at The Bank in Weatherford, Texas. She used the stolen funds to purchase, among other things, a ranch and horses in Texas.

Investigation into the location of stolen assets is continuing. Anyone with information regarding these assets is encouraged to call the U.S. Attorney’s Office, NDTX, Financial Litigation Unit at 817.252.5200.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay S. Weimer prosecuted the case.

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