Lucy Owens, Wire Fraud, Indiana 2018

Hobart Woman Sentenced for Wire Fraud

A 42-year-old woman from Hobart, Indiana, has been sentenced to prison for her role in a wire fraud scheme that defrauded her employer out of over $800,000.

Lucy Owens was convicted on 7 counts of wire fraud after a five-day jury trial in May 2018. She was sentenced to 57 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay $820,483.66 in restitution.

The restitution includes $324,438.50 that Owens was ordered to pay jointly and severally with her co-defendant, Kirk Stroh. This amount represents a significant portion of the over $800,000 that Owens diverted from her employer, a Hammond-based freight services company, between 2010 and 2015.

Owens' schemes involved using her position as the company's accounts payable clerk to fraudulently pay over $460,000 in personal credit card bills from the company's bank account. She also used her position as the administrator of the company's diesel fuel card program to help two individuals obtain over $330,000 in unauthorized cash advances at truck stops.

One of the individuals, Kirk Stroh, helped Owens obtain over $290,000 in fraudulent cash advances at a truck stop in Lake Station, Indiana, in increments of $800 per day. The proceeds from the scheme were split between Owens and Stroh, who used their portion of the funds for personal expenses, including frequent family vacations, dining, clothing, jewelry, home improvements, and other items.

The case was investigated by the Hammond Police Department and handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Abizer Zanzi and Nathaniel Whalen. U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II praised the great work of the Hammond Police Department in bringing the case to a successful conclusion, saying, 'The U.S. Attorney's Office and law enforcement partners will continue to hold people accountable for their actions when they choose to take advantage of others.'

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndin/pr/hobart-woman-sentenced