Bridget Thebeau, International Embezzlement, Missouri 2024

A Missouri woman has been caught in the act of embezzling $3.8 million from her employer with the help of co-conspirators in China. Bridget Thebeau, 45, of St. Charles County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to five counts of wire fraud, admitting to embezzling from her employer from roughly January 2015 to March 2024.

Thebeau struck a deal with some of her employer’s suppliers in China in which she caused the company to pay the suppliers for products that the company did not need and never received. In exchange, Thebeau’s co-conspirators in China shared the proceeds of the scam with her.

Thebeau used various tactics to hide her crime, including fraudulent shipping labels, fraudulent bills of lading issued by the China-based suppliers, fraudulent invoices that she created and claimed she had issued to the company’s customers, and false information she supplied to the company’s owner and accountants.

According to the plea agreement, Thebeau triggered fraudulent payments of at least $3,821,152 to the company’s China-based suppliers, and in return her co-conspirators wired her more than $2 million. Thebeau was hired in 2002 by the family-owned company, and her crime resulted in substantial financial hardship to the company’s owner, who is no longer able to retire due to her embezzlement.

The investigation into Thebeau’s embezzlement scheme was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and the Chesterfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.

Thebeau is scheduled to be sentenced on September 11, 2025. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

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