THIEF NEARLY DESTROYS FAMILY MOVING BUSINESS

Traci Annette Carter to Serve 5 Years For Stealing Over $321-Thousand in 2 ½ Years

Traci Annette Carter, a 46-year-old resident of Winston, Georgia, nearly wiped out the small Atlanta moving company of Brad and Mark Daniel. Today, Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. announces her conviction by guilty plea to 127 counts of theft by taking by fiduciary and one count of being a recidivist, stemming from her role as a payables clerk for Daniel Moving System, Inc. of Atlanta. The defendant pled guilty Thursday and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Wendy Shoob to 30 years to serve 5 years in prison and ordered to pay $321-thousand in restitution. In addition, she was ordered not to hold a position of trust nor a fiduciary position and to stay away from the victims.

From June 2000 through February 2003, Carter stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company by adding her name as an additional payee to legitimate checks and also by issuing fraudulent checks. Bank photos show her cashing some the checks or depositing them into her personal banking account. She concealed her activities by recording the thefts as payments to vendors. Owners Brad and Mark Daniel were alerted to the scheme by a bank teller who questioned whether the defendant was authorized to cash checks in such large amounts on the company's account. They called the police. The defendant was eventually extradited from Tennessee to face the charges.

In their victim impact statements in court, the Daniels told the defendant she crippled the company and nearly put them out of business. They told the judge how difficult it's been for them over the past five years as they've worked to rebuild their vendors' trust, one client at a time.

The case was prosecuted by the head of the Fulton County DA's White Collar Crime Unit, Senior Assistant District Attorney Brad Malkin. The investigation was conducted by Fulton County Police Detective G. E. Martin and Joe Thurman of the DA's Investigations Unit assigned to White Collar Crimes. Scott Long of the DA's Victims-Witness Assistance Program coordinated services to the victims.

CONTACT: Lyn Vaughn, 404.730.6860 (office); 770.597.6963 (cell); lyn.vaughn@co.fulton.ga.us