A Great Falls woman, who admitted to defrauding two businesses of approximately $500,000 while working as a bookkeeper to pay her personal expenses, was sentenced in federal court in Great Falls on Monday, December 11, 2023.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release that 63-year-old Tara Durnell pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and to mail fraud.
In court documents, the government alleged that beginning in at least 1997, Durnell embezzled from her employer, Kronebusch Electric, Inc., (KEI) a small company in Conrad, where she worked as a bookkeeper, to fund her personal lifestyle.
Durnell used her access to pre-signed company checks and company bank accounts to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars toward personal credit card debt, personal car loan payments and debts belonging to family members.
To conceal her scheme, Durnell used her access to the company’s accounting software to hide her illicit transactions and make them appear like legitimate businesses expenses. In total, Durnell embezzled almost $500,000 from KEI.
Durnell left employment with KEI when the scheme was discovered and found work as a bookkeeper with Mitchell’s Crash Repair in Great Falls.
In January 2022, Durnell again used her access to the business’s pre-signed checks and bank accounts and to pay tens of thousands of dollars toward personal expenses.
Durnell embezzled approximately $15,491 from Mitchell’s Crash Repair.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris sentenced Durnell to 25 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
She was also ordered to pay $492,309 in restitution. Durnell was remanded into custody.
