News

Lafayette woman gets nearly 2.5 years for fraud

by Patrick Flanagan

Federal prosecutors say a Lafayette woman was sentenced to nearly 2.5 years in prison for stealing more than $500,000 from the company where she worked.

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a Lafayette woman was sentenced to nearly 2.5 years in prison for stealing more than $500,000 from the company where she worked.

U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley, in a news release, said U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote sentenced 61-year-old Bunnie Morris to 29 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Foote also Thursday ordered Morris to pay $337,049 in restitution to Waste Auditors Inc., where she worked as a financial accountant/bookkeeper from 2001 to 2009.

According to evidence presented at the Feb. 20 guilty plea, Morris forged signatures of corporate officials on numerous payroll, bonus and expense account corporate checks processed through two banks totaling $579,050. She also orchestrated unauthorized payments to herself in the form of pay raises and bonuses.