Controller Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $1.67 Million Dollars from Company and Filing False Tax Returns

PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Renfrew, PA pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of wire fraud and making false statements on her tax returns, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

Constance Stobert, 57, pleaded guilty to eleven counts before United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Stobert worked as a controller for a company called Mechanical Operations Company (MOC) from 1994 until July 2021. Between January 2014 and July 2018, Stobert embezzled at least $1,678,893 in MOC’s assets to fund her gambling habit and to pay for her personal expenses. Among other things, Stobert wrote checks from MOC’s business banking accounts to make personal credit card payments and used MOC’s credit cards to withdraw cash at ATMs in casinos located in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas. Stobert also admitted that, during the tax years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, she willfully and knowingly filed false tax returns, in which she failed to report the money she embezzled from MOC, resulting in a tax loss to the government of $545,990.

Judge Schwab scheduled sentencing for Sept. 12, 2023. The law provides for a total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, for each of the seven wire fraud counts, and a sentence of three years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, for each of the four counts of filing false tax returns. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Karen Gal-Or is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Stobert.