Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Cargill employee repaying $3.5 million

Diane Backis, 50, has pled guilty to stealing more than $3.1 million from Cargill, Inc.

Her fraud cost the company as estimated $25 million because she charged customers less for products than what Cargill had paid for them.

Imagine what Cargill could have done with that money to boost the Ontario economy.

Backis was a former accounting manager at Cargill’s grain-shipping terminal at Albany, New York.

She admitted in federal court in Minnesota Monday that over the course of 10 years, she instructed customers to return payments directly to her, then falsified entries in the company’s accounting software and pocketed the difference.

“Ms. Backis stole millions of dollars from her employer in a decade-long scheme to enrich herself so she could live beyond her means,” according to a statement from prosecutor Richard S. Hartunian.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that Backas has agreed to pay Cargill a minimum of $3.5 million in restitution plus the forfeiture of her house, investment brokerage account and Cargill pension benefits.

 She could also face up to 20 years in prison for falsifying an income tax return and committing mail fraud.