North Texas financial analyst defrauded businesses of $1.4 million, FBI says
A former financial analyst was charged with defrauding the North Texas Business Alliance (NTBA) out of more than $1.4 million in rebate funds, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah announced Monday.
A federal grand jury charged Tammy Walden Thomas, 60, with nine counts of wire fraud last week, the press release said. From March 2016 to October 2019, Thomas was a financial analyst for NTBA, a cooperative association of hundreds of North Texas convenience stores and gasoline station owners that negotiated discounts with multinational food and beverage companies on behalf of its members.
Thomas’ job was to pass the discounts as rebates on to NTBA members via automatic clearinghouse transfers. However, investigators say she misdirected more than $1.4 million in rebate funds into her own bank accounts, lying to NTBA’s executives and accountants in the process.
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Thomas made her first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez on Monday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fabio Leonardi is prosecuting the case.
