NEW ORLEANS – A Chalmette woman with a long history of access to company funds has been slapped with a 30-month federal prison sentence for a brazen scheme to pilfer over two million dollars from her employer. JENNIFER GUILLOT, 40, received the sentence on April 17, 2019, following a guilty plea to Bank Larceny, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(b). U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced the sentencing, bringing a close to a case that exposed years of calculated deceit.
Guillot, a secretary/bookkeeper at a local Eastern District of Louisiana business since 1996, began her criminal activity as personal financial troubles mounted. Instead of seeking legitimate solutions, she launched three separate and meticulously planned schemes to siphon funds from the company’s accounts, held at Hibernia National Bank, now Capital One Bank. The accounts were insured by the F.D.I.C., establishing federal jurisdiction and opening the door for a federal prosecution.
The first scheme involved simply writing company checks to herself – a direct theft totaling $563,927.26. But Guillot didn’t stop there. She then began diverting funds by writing company checks to her own credit card companies, effectively using company money to pay for personal expenses, racking up a loss of $866,077.10. As if that wasn’t enough, Guillot engaged in a third, more sophisticated scheme, electronically accessing the company’s Automated Clearinghouse Account (ACH) and using it to pay her personal credit bills – a theft amounting to $640,668.85.
Guillot was a master of cover-up. When bank statements arrived, she meticulously “white out”ed any trace of her fraudulent activity, creating altered copies and shredding the originals. She further disguised her actions by falsely labeling payments to herself as payments to legitimate vendors, creating a paper trail of fabricated transactions. This wasn’t a spontaneous act; it was a sustained, deliberate effort to defraud her employer.
The total damage inflicted by Guillot’s schemes reached $2,070,673.21. While she was ordered to pay $1,561,968.19 in restitution – a reflection of funds recovered through civil lawsuits – the court recognized the severity of the crime with a 30-month prison sentence, followed by two years of supervised release. Guillot faced a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment, in addition to restitution.
U.S. Attorney Strasser lauded the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service in unraveling Guillot’s schemes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter K. D. Guice, Jr. handled the prosecution, ensuring that Guillot faced justice for her years of calculated theft. This case serves as a stark reminder that even seemingly trusted employees are capable of devastating financial crimes, and that federal authorities will aggressively pursue those who exploit their positions for personal gain.
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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