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Press Release

Accountant Pleads Guilty to Embezzling more than $1 Million

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Ohio

DAYTON – Deborah Yosick, 60, currently of Davenport, Florida, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to embezzling more than $1 million. She pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and income tax evasion.

 

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS), and Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division, announced the plea entered into yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sharon L. Ovington.

According to court documents, Yosick embezzled money from her employer, Donald C. Wright Investments, LLC and its sister company Don Wright Realty, LLC. Don Wright’s businesses are family-owned and are based in Centerville, Ohio. Don Wright provided various commercial, industrial, and residential services in the Dayton, Ohio-area.

 

Between approximately 1985 and October 2015, Yosick was Don Wright's accountant and was principally responsible for handing its accounts payables and accounts receivables, including making journal entries relating to receivables, crediting tenant accounts as rents were received and preparing deposit slips and making deposits on behalf of Don Wright. Yosick was personally responsible for depositing rental receipts (whether they were cash or check) into the appropriate Don Wright bank account.

 

Between 2010 and approximately October 2015, Yosick devised a scheme to defraud and embezzle money from Don Wright by using rental payments to pay her personal American Express bill, by initiating ACH transfers from a Don Wright bank account. She used a portion of the cash she embezzled to purchase money orders from supermarkets, Wal-Mart and post offices and use the money orders to pay her personal American Express credit card bills.

 

Also, between March 2013 and approximately October 2015, Yosick embezzled funds from Don Wright by causing approximately 70 electronic transfers (ACH payments) from a company bank account to American Express in order to pay her personal credit card bill.

 

In total, between 2010 and approximately October 2015, Yosick embezzled $1,098,778.23 from Don Wright.

 

Additionally, Yosick committed income tax evasion by filing a false income tax return for the 2014 income tax year by underreporting her taxable income by approximately $303,808, which resulted in tax due and owing of approximately $94,601, which represented the embezzled funds from Don Wright.

 

In total, Yosick attempted to evade paying $255,571 in federal income taxes to the IRS for the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 income tax years.

 

Yosick agreed to pay restitution to Don Wright Realty LLC in the amount of $1,098,778.23 and to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $255,571.

 

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment, and income tax evasion is punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment.

 

“Tax evasion and embezzlement schemes of this magnitude and with this degree of trickery, dishonesty and deceit, deserves to be punished,” said Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. “The IRS, FBI, and U.S. Attorney’s Office remain determined and vigilant in ferreting out such schemes to cheat the honest taxpayers.”

 

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative law enforcement investigation, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Alex R. Sistla, who is prosecuting the case.

Updated November 18, 2016

Topic
Tax