Valley, Alabama Woman Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Stealing Over $700,000 from Her Employer and Failing to Report Income on Her Tax Returns

            Montgomery, Alabama- A Valley, Alabama woman was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for embezzling from her employer and filing false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr., and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. There is no parole in the federal system.

            According to court documents, from February 2007 through May 2014, Alita Baker Edeker, 49, embezzled $700,000 of her employer’s funds by diverting payments from clients of the company to debit and credit cards she controlled. Edeker made false entries in the company’s books and records in order to conceal her embezzlement. After embezzling the funds, Edeker willfully filed false tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012, and 2013 that did not report the money.

            In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, Edeker was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amounts of $819,497.29 to her employer and $101,604 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

            United States Attorney Franklin and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Auburn Police Division, who investigated the case, and Assistant United States Attorney Ben Baxley and Trial Attorney Grace Albinson of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.