Toy Company Owner Sentenced for Defrauding Bank and Investors Out of Approximately $9 Million

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, the owner of a toy company was sentenced for defrauding a bank and 42 investors out of approximately $9 million. United States District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson sentenced Sandra Lee Calkins, age 67, formerly of Eden Prairie, to 66 months in prison on one count of bank fraud in connection to her crime. Calkins, the owner of Princess Soft Toys, Inc., was charged on April 29, 2011, and pleaded guilty on May 26, 2011.

In her plea agreement, Calkins admitted that between January of 2008 and March 5 of 2010, she falsified financial statements regarding her company in order to renew a $3.25 million line of credit at Central Bank. Calkins, who handled the financial affairs for the company, admittedly included in those statements false information relative to revenue and net assets. As a consequence of the fraud, the credit line was renewed, and Calkins made multiple draws against it totaling $3,575,000. Central Bank suffered a loss of approximately $1.6 million.

Calkins also admitted that between January of 2008 and 2010, she defrauded individuals into investing or loaning money to Princess Soft Toys through false financial statements or other misrepresentations. The total losses to individual investors exceeded $7 million.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Rank.