BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A former Etowah County bookkeeper was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for stealing more than $900,000 from her former employer through fraud and identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.
Peggy McGlaughn, 68, worked as a bookkeeper and office manager for Bob Roberts & Company, an Etowah County construction company, for 24 years. She pleaded guilty to the fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in 2011.
According to court records, McGlaughn carried out her scheme to steal from her employer as follows: From October 2003 until February 2010, she obtained the signatures of Bob Roberts & Company principals on company checks and told the principals those checks would be used to pay for company expenses. McGlaughn would make the checks out to another company employee and, unbeknownst to that employee, forge his endorsement on the checks and then present them to a local bank for payment. During the course of her scheme, McGlaughn forged endorsements and cashed more than 100 of the company’s checks, keeping the money for herself.
The FBI investigated the case, and it was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama. Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr. ordered McGlaughn to serve 57 months in prison, 33 months for the fraud and 24 months for the aggravated identity theft, to be served consecutively to the fraud sentence.
McGlaughn must also serve five years’ supervised release after completing her prison sentence and must pay $933,079 in restitution to Bob Roberts & Company. She will be credited $60,750 toward that restitution for two vehicles seized through asset forfeiture proceedings by the FBI.
McGlaughn is scheduled to report to prison in June. The exact dates of the crime are not specified, but the scheme ran from October 2003 until February 2010.
The exact criminal charges against McGlaughn are fraud and aggravated identity theft. The sentence or outcome for McGlaughn is 57 months in prison, five years’ supervised release, and $933,079 in restitution to Bob Roberts & Company.
Defendant: Peggy McGlaughn
Criminal Charges: Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft
City and State: Birmingham, Alabama
Exact Date: 2011
Sentence or Outcome: 57 months in prison, five years’ supervised release, and $933,079 in restitution
Dollar Amount: $933,079
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- Victoria Metz, Embezzlement of Government Property and Aggravated Identity Theft, Georgia 2023 · Georgia
- Victoria Metz, Embezzlement and Aggravated Identity Theft, Georgia 2013 · Georgia
- Daniqua Clark, Mail Stream Theft and COVID-19 Relief Fraud, Georgia 2023 · Georgia
Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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