Kalispell Bookkeeper Sentenced for Embezzling Firearms Business
Trying to rob a gun shop the traditional way, at gunpoint, is a good way to wind up in the morgue. Perhaps smarter to use Quickbooks?
Teri Anne Bell of Columbia Falls used her bookkeeping and computer skills to embezzle $159,000 from her employer Falkor SID Inc. in Kalispell. Falkor is a manufacturer and distributor of firearms and accessories. Over three and a half years from May 2018 to December 2021, she documented false transactions in the company's Quickbooks so that they looked legit. She then took the funds to pay down credit card balances, personal expenses, vacations, liquor stores and retail, and to pay collection agencies.
Falkor suspected Bell of the thefts and so conducted an audit, which found 45 fraudulent and unauthorized transactions for over $159K. Bell denied the fraud, and she was terminated from employment.
Now maybe Bell should have just walked away and open her own bookkeeping service, and not commit the crimes again. It might have ended right there. Instead she filed a grievance demanding reinstatement to her job. Falkor spent another $15,000 to further investigate Bell and for legal counsel.
The Sentence is Just
Given the nature of the crime and that she plead guilty, Bell has been sentenced to five months in federal prison, then another six months in home confinement. On top of this, though, she is ordered to pay just under $175,000 for restitution and a $20,000 fine.
I think this is a fair punishment. She did the crime, she'll do the time. But more importantly in this case, she will repay the full amount to the business she swindled, including all expenses. I hope law enforcement liquidates her assets until every nickel has been returned.
And this is a good method for other crimes. Set an appropriate fine for the infraction, payable immediately. Liquidate assets to meet the fine. Of course the defendant has the right of appeal, but if that is done and they lose, the added costs are tacked on.
Perhaps when wallets, purses, cars, homes, portfolios and retirement income is forfeit, we might actually see a decline in crime.
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