Bookkeeper Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal Prison for Tax Evasion

     PHOENIX – On Nov. 23, 2015, Deanna Kay Frader, 66, of Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake to 30 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for evading income tax on nearly $1.7 million she embezzled from Ardent Sound, Inc., where she had been employed as an office manager and bookkeeper.  Frader previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

      “The United States Attorney Office will vigorously prosecute those who commit this type of serious and repeated abuse of financial trust,” said U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo.  “Frader’s actions were harmful to her employer and to taxpayers, and it is hoped that this well-deserved sentence will deter others from similar fraudulent activity.

       Frader was the sole office manager and bookkeeper for Mesa-based Ardent Sound for more than 20 years, until April of 2012.  Her embezzlement was discovered during an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit of Frader Endeavors, LLC, a company that Frader owned with her son and that was the beneficiary of a large portion of the stolen funds.  In an effort to hide the embezzlement and evasion during the audit, Frader created a fictitious loan agreement with Ardent Sound and forged the signature of its prior president.  In the plea agreement, Frader admitted that she stole funds from Ardent Sound on nearly 400 occasions and then altered the company’s records to conceal the theft.  She also admitted that she knew of her obligation to pay taxes on the funds and purposefully did not do so.  As part of her sentence, Frader was ordered to pay restitution to Ardent Sound and to the IRS for the full amount of the respective losses.

       The investigation in this case was conducted by the IRS-Criminal Investigation.  The prosecution was handled by Monica Klapper, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-15-219-PHX-NVW

RELEASE NUMBER:   2015-117_Frader

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