GREEDY BOOKKEEPER STEALS NEARLY $200K FROM UNSUSPECTING ATLANTA FIRM

DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON PLUS RESTITUTION

ATLANTA- Fulton County District Attorney, Paul L. Howard, Jr. announces the conviction by guilty plea of 48-year old Gwendolyn Cummings, a former bookkeeper and office manager for BAA Mechanical Engineers. Cummings, a Luthersville resident, pled guilty to 26 counts of Theft by Taking by Fiduciary. She was sentenced to 20 years to serve four and must pay $25,000 in restitution.

Cummings began stealing in April of 2004 after convincing her employer to let her take over payroll from an outside firm as a cost-cutting measure. After setting up a business checking account, Cummings routinely inflated and duplicated her salary payments and then diverted that money into her personal bank account. Over the span of a year and a half, she embezzled a total of $198, 269.07. Her crime began to unravel in December of 2005 when company officials tried to pay Christmas bonuses and discovered the account was overdrawn.

District Attorney Howard calls this crime a violation of trust that fortunately will not go unnoticed or unpunished saying, "These are serious crimes for which we all pay. Ms. Cummings will have a long time to reflect on her actions." As part of her sentence, Cummings may not hold a position of trust or fiduciary capacity.

Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford presided over the case. It was successfully prosecuted by The Fulton County District Attorney's White Collar Crimes Unit lead by Assistant District Attorney Brad Malkin with the assistance of Senior Investigator Joe Thurman.

Media Contact: Yvette Brown, 404-224-0560/404-392-8867, yvette.brown@fultoncountyga.gov