Kentucky woman sentenced for bilking more than $1M from Greenfield business
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A Kentucky woman found guilty of embezzling more than $1 million from a family-owned Greenfield business has been sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
U.S. District Judge James Sweeney II sentenced Jennifer Lynn Horton, 49, of Shepherdsville, Kentucky to 30 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
In addition to her prison sentence, the court ordered the forfeiture of Horton’s interest in four vehicles—a 2022 Ford F350, a 2022 Ford Mustang, a 2021 Ford Mustang, and a 2020 Ford EcoSport—and that she pay a judgment of $1 million.
“This criminal abused her friendships and position of trust to swindle a family-owned company out of over a million dollars,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Zachary Myers said in a press release. “Family entrepreneurs are a critical driver of our economy, and fraud schemes against them harm those companies, their employees, and our community as a whole, and this serious federal prison sentence should send the message that this conduct will not be tolerated. My thanks to our partners in Hancock County and at the FBI for ensuring that there is accountability for economic crimes.”
According to court documents, between 2011 and 2022, Horton worked as the office manager for a family-owned contracting company located in Greenfield.
In that role, Horton was responsible for managing payroll, customer invoices, and company credit cards.
Beginning around January 2016, and continuing through December 2022, Horton devised and executed multiple schemes to defraud her employer of more than $1 million.
First, Horton inflated her salary on 466 separate occasions, for a total of $515,000, without approval.
In December 2020, Horton added her husband to the company’s payroll even though he had not been hired as a salaried employee.
During that time, Horton stole an additional $107,000 under the guise of her husband’s name.
To conceal her conduct, Horton edited the company’s payroll data to make it appear that she was being paid her agreed-upon salary and to delete the payments to her husband. After the edited data was approved,
Horton reverted the payroll system to make the unauthorized payments to herself and her husband. Horton misled her boss about the company’s financial reports, resulting in significant financial strain on the company when the true information was discovered.
Horton also redirected credit card payments made by the company’s customers into her own personal bank account over 185 times. She concealed the theft by altering the company’s accounting records to delete invoices or falsely mark them as being paid in full to the company.
Finally, Horton abused the company credit card to pay personal bills and make personal purchases, including a house, cars, and clothes. In total, Horton stole approximately $1,116,258 from her employer.
“Holding individuals accountable for financial crimes like this is essential to protecting the integrity of our businesses and communities,” Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton said in a press release. “This case serves as a reminder that accountability for the defendant and justice for the victim are crucial in preventing fraud.”