Syracuse Woman Pleads In Fraud Case
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SOUTH BEND - A Syracuse woman recently entered a guilty plea for a wire fraud charge in U.S. District Court in South Bend.
Margaret A. Chestnut, 54, of Syracuse, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, waiving her right to a jury trial and an appeal.
From 1999 to 2003, Chestnut was a bookkeeper for WE International, a manufacturing company in Syracuse owned by Carmen and Janet Wenger.
Chestnut admitted to issuing checks to herself and her husband's business and forging business co-owner Jane Wenger's signature on the checks. Chestnut also issued fraudulent double paychecks to herself. She also falsified entries in checking account ledgers and destroyed documents to conceal her crime from her employers.
Asst. U.S. Attorney John M. Maciejczyk said Chestnut diverted a total of $49,273.66 from WE International, but paid back $14,000 before her activities were discovered.
In the plea agreement, Chestnut asks that the government agree to recommend her sentence at the low-end of the applicable guidelines.
The agreement also orders Chestnut to pay $100 in special assessments and repay $35,273.66 to the Wengers. [[In-content Ad]]
SOUTH BEND - A Syracuse woman recently entered a guilty plea for a wire fraud charge in U.S. District Court in South Bend.
Margaret A. Chestnut, 54, of Syracuse, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, waiving her right to a jury trial and an appeal.
From 1999 to 2003, Chestnut was a bookkeeper for WE International, a manufacturing company in Syracuse owned by Carmen and Janet Wenger.
Chestnut admitted to issuing checks to herself and her husband's business and forging business co-owner Jane Wenger's signature on the checks. Chestnut also issued fraudulent double paychecks to herself. She also falsified entries in checking account ledgers and destroyed documents to conceal her crime from her employers.
Asst. U.S. Attorney John M. Maciejczyk said Chestnut diverted a total of $49,273.66 from WE International, but paid back $14,000 before her activities were discovered.
In the plea agreement, Chestnut asks that the government agree to recommend her sentence at the low-end of the applicable guidelines.
The agreement also orders Chestnut to pay $100 in special assessments and repay $35,273.66 to the Wengers. [[In-content Ad]]