Former CPA for Lake Tanglewood Admits Stealing and Forging Nearly $75,000 in Checks
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 10, 2010 |
AMARILLO, TX—Richard Craig Hillier, of Amarillo, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to an indictment charging one count of forged securities of an organization, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Hillier faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Robinson on July 19, 2010.
According to filed documents, Hillier was employed as an outside accountant for Lake Tanglewood, a private gated community near Amarillo. He admitted that sometime in 2007, he stole checks belonging to Lake Tanglewood, and even though he did not have the authority to sign these checks, he began writing himself checks and forging the signature. From 2007 through February 2010, he admitted forging approximately 156 checks, totaling more than $74,000, that were drawn on Lake Tanglewood’s bank account at Amarillo National Bank.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Drake of the Amarillo, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office.