Peggy Kaye Witts, 61, of Redding, pleaded guilty on July 21 to one felony count each of wire fraud and tax evasion, arising out of her embezzling over $850,000 from the Voorwood Company, Inc., of Anderson and failing to report the stolen money as income.
Witts is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Damrell on Sept. 29, 2008, at 10 a.m.
Witts was employed by Voorwood beginning in 1991, becoming the chief financial officer in 1999 and president in 2002, according to prosecutor Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Stegman.
Witts admitted to defrauding the company by issuing duplicate paychecks to herself for over four years and issuing company checks to herself, family members, and others for her personal expenses. She also admitted to tax evasion based on her failure to report the embezzled money as income and to pay taxes on the money.
The Anderson Police Department interviewed employees after the agency was informed of possible embezzlement. Soon, Sgt. Bob Curato realized that with the amount of embezzlement and use of the U.S. mail to commit the crimes, the APD did not have the resources to handle the complete investigation, said Chief Dale Webb.
“Once we saw the magnitude of it, we contacted the district attorney and the FBI,” Webb said.
The case is the product of an extensive investigation by the APD, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and Office of Inspector General, and the IRS.
For wire fraud violation, Witts faces up to 20 years in prison, and up to five years in prison for tax evasion, with a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. However, her actual sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The plea agreement also requires that Witts pay full restitution for her crimes, including that the defendant turn over to Voorwood the proceeds from the sale of her house in Redding, other real estate in Shasta County, a mobile home, and all interest in her Voorwood retirement plan and a Roth IRA.
The plea agreement also requires that she be prohibited for 13 years from participating in any way with administering an employee benefit plan, acting as an adviser to an employee benefit plan or working in any capacity that involves control of the assets of any employee benefit plan.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 1
waynem writes:
I'm glad to see that Peggy Witts is finally getting her just rewards for the crimes she has committed, although I suspect she won't do much time.
Her crimes extend far beyond what is reported.
Anyone at the company who questioned her accounting was promply fired, causing a great deal of hardship on a great many lives.
With the assistance of an attorney, she managed to oust the former CEO and President in order to
steal from the company and all the employees of that company. I am the former President and I was on to her from the beginning, and eventually was able to prompt the investigations that resulted in her arrest. Her actions, during her reign of terror as President at Voorwood Company continues to cause suffering to many.
Although I know she will never get the maximum punishment allowable, she certainly deserves it.
If the sentencing judge knew about all the pain, suffering, and financial hardship she has caused to so many, perhaps he would be inclined to throw the book at her.
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