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Broken Arrow Business Owner Swindled Out of $2.7 Million by Former Office Manager
A former office manager who embezzled more than $2.7 million from her former employer in Broken Arrow has been sentenced in federal court.
Melissa Raye Dihel, 50, of Okmulgee, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $2,722,332.63 in restitution to her former employer and $775,971 in restitution to the IRS.
Dihel began stealing from her employer less than two years after pleading guilty to embezzling from another business in 2009 in Tulsa County District Court.
“Melissa Dihel violated the trust of small business owners and robbed them for years,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
“Dihel’s string of lies, criminal acts, and excuses have finally caught up with her, resulting in almost four years of prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will hold white collar criminals responsible for the financial harm they cause to local businesses,” Johnson added.
Dihel pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion on July 21, 2021, after she brazenly embezzled more than $2.7 million from her employer from 2011 until May 2019.
Dihel took advantage of her trusted position as an office manager at the business and forged the president’s signature on approximately 334 checks for her own benefit and to the detriment of the company. She made some checks payable to herself, some to her boyfriend and a family member, and some to personal credit card companies to pay her monthly credit card bills.
Dihel will self-surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility on December 15, 2021. The IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Broken Arrow Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David D. Whipple and Kevin C. Leitch prosecuted the case.
Mandatory Facts:
Defendant: Melissa Raye Dihel
Criminal Charges: Mail fraud and tax evasion
City and State: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Date: July 21, 2021
Sentence: 46 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,722,332.63 in restitution to her former employer and $775,971 in restitution to the IRS
Key Facts
- State: Oklahoma
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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