Tammy J. Scudder, 52, of Shelbyville, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to four counts of wire fraud.
According to court documents, from 2012 to December of 2021, Tammy Scudder devised and participated in a scheme to defraud her employer of more than $600,000. Scudder served as the Controller for Plymate in Shelbyville for nine years. As Controller, Scudder was the company’s top accountant and maintained its accounting ledgers, managed payroll, and had access to online bank accounts. Scudder also had access to the company’s accounting software, which she used to generate checks in Plymate’s name.
Scudder abused her position of trust as Controller to exploit a vulnerability in the company’s accounting system. Scudder knew that the company’s Group Health Plan bank account was difficult to double-check because it was funded based upon the total amount of the weekly claims on the list it received from another company, rather than by each claim individually. She accessed the victim company’s accounting software to generate and print a company check to herself, signed using another employee’s signature stamp. After Scudder printed the check, she concealed the theft by altering and falsifying the victim company’s accounting records.
Scudder used the stolen money to take vacations, pay off personal debts, fund her children’s educational expenditures, and to make improvements to her Shelbyville residence. Between February 2, 2012, and December 17, 2020, Scudder generated 154 false and fraudulent checks totaling $693,708.75.
“The defendant abused her position of trust and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars intended to pay for the health care of her colleagues,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers. “This incessant greed, spanning nearly a decade, has been quashed thanks to our dedicated partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Our office will continue to identify and prosecute individuals who scheme and steal to satisfy their own greed.”
The FBI investigated this case.
The sentence was imposed by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. Judge Pratt also ordered that Scudder be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for two years following her release from federal prison and pay the full $693,708 in restitution to Plymate.
