Lee's Summit Woman Indicted for Additional Embezzlement Schemes, Identity Theft

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that additional charges have been filed against a Lee’s Summit, Mo., woman who was previously indicted for embezzling more than $300,000 from her employer.

Patricia Webb, 43, of Lee’s Summit, was charged in a 24-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s superseding indictment replaces an indictment returned on March 31, 2016, and includes additional charges related to two more fraud schemes. Webb is in federal custody after having her bond revoked by the court for unrelated fraudulent conduct.

In addition to the scheme to embezzle approximately $302,183 from Black and Veatch, which was charged in the original indictment, today’s superseding indictment charges Webb with a scheme to embezzle $1.2 million from Garmin International, a previous employer, and a scheme to embezzle $7,385 from a healthcare benefits program for Garmin employees.

TriStar Embezzlement Scheme

According to today’s indictment, Webb stole the identity of another employee while she was working at Garmin in order to embezzle $7,385 from TriStar Benefit Administrators, the company which managed Garmin’s healthcare savings accounts.

Webb allegedly created a flexible spending account for another Garmin employee without his knowledge or consent. Webb allegedly submitted a request for reimbursement to TriStar on July 18, 2011. The request was for hospital treatment in the amount of $7,385, the indictment says, and the payment from TriStar was sent to Webb’s bank account.

Today’s indictment charges Webb with one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in relation to this embezzlement scheme.

Garmin Embezzlement Scheme

According to today’s indictment, Webb embezzled $1,224,410 million from Garmin while employed as a senior payroll specialist.

Webb was hired by Garmin on Feb. 28, 2011, and promoted to payroll team leader in August 2011. Webb allegedly caused Garmin to send 16 unauthorized payments to her own business bank account under the corporate name Beauty Within Me from Feb. 24, 2012, to May 30, 2014.

Today’s indictment charges Webb with 16 counts of wire fraud in relation to this embezzlement scheme.

Black and Veatch Embezzlement Scheme

According to today’s indictment, Webb embezzled $302,183 from Black and Veatch while employed as a global payroll manager. Webb was employed by Black and Veatch from January 2015 until March 4, 2016 and earned $90,000 per year.

The indictment alleges that Webb facilitated unauthorized wire transfers and Automated Clearing House transactions (fund transfers, such as direct deposits and business-to-business payments) from the company’s payroll account to her Beauty Within Me business bank account. To conceal her fraud, the indictment says, Webb manipulated the direct deposit information of Black and Veatch employees, who were either based overseas or deceased, to funnel company funds into her own bank account.

Webb allegedly embezzled approximately $302,183 from Black and Veatch in a series of six transfers that ranged from $8,588 to $92,862 over approximately seven months in 2015 and 2016.

During the scheme, according to court documents, Webb made $106,529 in withdrawals and expenditures at casinos; spent $8,986 on travel-related expenses (including airfare and hotels for trips to Bangkok, Thailand, Las Vegas, Nev., and Miami, Fla.; made $14,449 in payments to multiple higher education universities; and made $61,745 in ATM withdrawals.

On March 4, 2016, an accounts manager at Commerce Bank contacted Black and Veatch’s executive management regarding payroll deposits that seemed suspicious. On the same day, Webb was confronted about the suspicious transactions and was suspended without pay.

Today’s indictment charges Webb with six counts of wire fraud in relation to this embezzlement scheme.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by the FBI.