Date: August 30, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov A Shelbyville, Kentucky woman was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for embezzling funds from her employer and including false information on her tax returns. According to court documents, Kimberly F. Jones was employed as an office manager at Guardian Retention Systems, LLC in Bullitt County, Kentucky. As office manager, she handled accounts payable and receivable, petty cash, payroll, and taxes. She also had electronic access to the bank accounts to pay bills. During her time as officer manger, Jones took several actions to embezzle from her employer. She used company credit cards in her name and the names of other employees to make unauthorized personal purchases. She directed unauthorized transfers from the company bank account and diverted customer revenue received by the company's electronic payment account. Jones also set up a business called KAB Enterprises, LLC to issue false invoices to Guardian Retention Systems. Jones would use the company credit cards and bank account to pay the fraudulent invoices from KAB Enterprises, LLC. Jones also failed to report her embezzled funds as income on her tax returns for tax years 2016 through 2018. "Outstanding work by the FBI and IRS during the investigation and prosecution of this case," stated U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett. "Along with the FBI and IRS, we will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute fraudsters who abuse corporate positions of trust and pilfer company funds." "Jones betrayed the trust placed in her by her employer, and criminal conduct like this undermines the financial health of honest businesses and can threaten jobs held by honest employees," said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI's Louisville Field Office. "As a result, FBI Louisville, the IRS, and the United States Attorney's Office will continue our work to hold corrupt insiders accountable for their crimes." A United States District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky sentenced Jones to 30 months imprisonment and ordered her to pay $260,034 in restitution. There is no parole in the federal system. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda E. Gregory prosecuted the case.
