Mississippi Woman Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Defrauding Local Business

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that KIM PARISH, age 51, a resident of Picayune, Mississippi, was sentenced yesterday after previously pleading guilty to a two-count Bill of Information charging her with wire fraud and bank fraud.

U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced PARISH to 40 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, and full restitution in the amount of $540,201.

According to court documents, for approximately four years, PARISH, in her position as an accountant for a local information technology service business, defrauded the business through two schemes. The first scheme involved PARISH issuing more than 200 checks to herself and to “petty cash” by forging the signature of the business’s owner. The second scheme involved PARISH improperly crediting herself with bonus pay through the business’s payroll system. PARISH took a variety of steps to conceal the schemes and defrauded the business of approximately $540,201.

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney Chandra Menon was in charge of the prosecution.