Former Connecticut Residents Sentenced To Federal Prison For Structuring Embezzled Funds

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LYNN A. SCHEUFLER, 36, formerly of Woodstock, Conn., and currently residing in Vermont, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 46 months of imprisonment for structuring hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds that she embezzled from her employer.  In addition, Judge Thompson sentenced SCHEUFLER’s husband, CRAIG L. GALLIGAN, 42, to 18 months of imprisonment for his role in the offense.  SCHEUFLER and GALLIGAN were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, during which each are required to perform 150 hours of community service.

According to court documents and statements made in court, SCHEUFLER was the Controller and Chief Financial Officer of a company that owns and operates dining and nightlife venues in the northeastern United States, including locations at Foxwoods Casino and Resort.  In that role, she was responsible for filling ATM machines located in the company’s venues out of the cash that managers collected from daily business operations and deposited into nightly deposit bags.  Over the course of approximately two years, SCHEUFLER embezzled approximately $2.5 million by taking cash out of the company’s nightly deposit bags and by making unauthorized withdrawals from the company’s cash accounts using the company’s ATM cards.

SCHEUFLER, with the assistance of GALLIGAN, deposited approximately $600,000 in stolen cash into their personal bank accounts.  The deposits were illegally structured so that no individual deposit exceeded the $10,000 threshold that would have triggered bank reporting requirements.

Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for currency transactions that exceed $10,000.  To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000.  Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements.  Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law.

The investigation revealed that SCHEUFLER and GALLIGAN lost a large portion of the embezzled funds gambling at Connecticut’s casinos.

As part of her sentence, SCHEUFLER was ordered to pay a money judgment of $614,390, approximately $47,000 of which has been satisfied from the sale of property.

On March 7, 2014, SCHEUFLER pleaded guilty to one count of illegally structuring financial transactions as part of a pattern of illegal activity.  On August 1, 2013, GALLIGAN pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to structure financial transactions.

SCHEUFLER and GALLIGAN were arrested on October 10, 2012, and are currently released on bond.  They were ordered to report to prison on October 7.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov