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.
