FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Friday, November 02, 2012
Docket #: 2:12-cr-174-GEB

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kathe Rascher, 53, of Citrus Heights, pleaded guilty today to one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney S. Robert Tice-Raskin is prosecuting the case.

According to the plea agreement, Rascher, a bookkeeper for River Valley Insurance Associates Inc., defrauded her employer of more than $1.7 million. Rascher failed to disclose the embezzled income in May 2006 when she filed her federal tax returns for tax years 2004 and 2005.

According to court documents, Rascher wrote checks to herself and her family members from the River Valley bank account. In order to make it look like the checks were issued for legitimate expenses, she changed the name of the payees on the unauthorized checks in the accounting records, altered carbon copies of the checks, and created fictitious invoices. She also reviewed the monthly bank statements and cancelled checks sent to River Valley and deliberately removed and destroyed any returned unauthorized checks that had been issued to her and her family.

Rascher is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. on January 18, 2013. Rascher faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison for the mail fraud conviction and a fine of twice the gain or loss. The maximum statutory sentence for the tax evasion conviction is five years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. As part of the plea, Rascher has agreed to pay full restitution to River Valley for the loss.

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