Former Employee of Crown Electric Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud and Filing a False Tax Return

OKLAHOMA CITY—Lora L. Renshaw, a 49-year-old former employee of Crown Electric and a resident of Jones, Oklahoma, pled guilty in federal court to a two-count Information charging mail fraud and filing a false tax return in connection with her embezzlement of $1,525,247.43 from Crown Electric, Inc., of Oklahoma City, between 2005 and 2009, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

According to the Information filed in the case, Renshaw wrote over 500 checks on the company’s account to pay her own personal expenses, forged the signature of an authorized signer on the checks, altered copies of the checks to reflect that payments had been made to legitimate vendors of Crown Electric, and submitted the altered check register and bank statements to the company’s CPA through the mail. The Information also reflects that Renshaw submitted a false tax return for tax year 2009 by failing to disclose substantial income. The Information also provides for forfeiture of the $1,525,247.43.

At sentencing, Renshaw faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the mail fraud charge and up to three years in federal prison and a fine up to $100,000.00 on the tax charge as well as the forfeiture of funds. A sentencing hearing will be set by the court in approximately 90 days.

These charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Secret Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Cox.