Cashier Managed to Embezzle $13M From Employer

A cashier in Pennsylvania convicted of stealing nearly $13 million from the monuments and engraving firm where she worked has been sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison, per the AP. Cynthia Mills, 56, took the money from Matthews International Corp. from 1999 to 2015. She pleaded guilty in March to mail fraud, wire fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. As cashier, Mills' job was to deposit checks made out to Matthews and to make wire transfers to pay the company's vendors. While she did that, she also moved money from company accounts into her own bank accounts, then covered up the thefts by forging bank statements and creating fake invoices.

Mills' attorney, Phil DiLucente, told the judge the thefts weren't driven by greed but by Mills' addiction to gambling at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and the Meadows Racetrack & Casino in nearby Washington County, where he said the bulk of the money was lost. As part of Mills' plea deal imposed Thursday, Mills also agreed to forfeit three homes, a yacht, two other boats, at least eight cars, and other items including jewelry and expensive designer handbags bought with the stolen money. But Assistant US Attorney Shardul Desai noted the casinos weren't even open when Mills began stealing the money: Rivers Casino opened in 2009, and the Meadows casino opened in 2007. "This theft didn't start with gambling," Desai said. "This theft started with greed." (More embezzlement stories.)