Theresa Ernestine Linsmeier, 58, of Fairfax, Minn., has been indicted on federal charges for stealing $535,000 from her employer over a five-year span, using the cash to fuel an online gambling habit while burying the theft under falsified accounting records.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Linsmeier faces three counts of wire fraud and five counts of filing false tax returns. As the longtime bookkeeper for Farm Mercantile, Inc., a hardware store in Fairfax, she had unchecked access to company bank accounts and authority to issue checks—access she allegedly exploited from 2011 to 2016.
According to the indictment, Linsmeier siphoned money by directly transferring funds from the business’s accounts to her personal credit cards. To cover her tracks, she manipulated the company’s general ledger, creating fake entries that made the stolen money appear as legitimate business expenses. The total haul: $535,000, nearly all funneled into online gambling ventures.
Linsmeier’s scheme unraveled after an investigation by Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, which traced the irregular transactions and discrepancies in tax filings. Investigators found she failed to report the embezzled income, leading to the additional tax fraud charges.
She is scheduled to make her initial appearance in United States District Court on March 15, 2018. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph H. Thompson is prosecuting the case, which could land Linsmeier decades behind bars if convicted on all counts.
The charges are presumed accusations under federal law. Theresa Ernestine Linsmeier remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Key Facts
- State: Minnesota
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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