Business Manager Sentenced for Tax Evasion In $257,000 Embezzlement Scheme

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for tax evasion related to unreported income from the theft of more than $257,000 from her employer.

Christine Diane Todd, 37, of Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey to 15 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Todd to pay $318,938 in restitution.

Todd was employed as the branch credit manager for Major Brands, Inc., in Columbia. Todd, who pleaded guilty on Nov. 28, 2011, admitted that she engaged in a scheme to defraud Major Brands and its customers from January 2003 to October 2006.

In her position as credit manager, Todd’s duties included processing payments that were received from customers, including both cash received from truck drivers and/or salesman and checks that were received in the mail. Todd admitted that she stole a portion of the cash received from the customers, totaling $257,688 over the four-year period.

Todd pleaded guilty to making an income tax return that falsely reported her income in 2005. Todd’s 2006 income tax return did not report $100,832 that she embezzled from Major Brand Foods in 2005.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the Columbia, Mo., Police Department.