Dent County Woman Charged on Federal Fraud Charges

St. Louis, MO – DEMEA LOYD, Salem, MO, was indicted by a federal grand jury on five felony counts of wire fraud. She appeared in federal court Thursday, in St. Louis.

The indictment alleges that Loyd owned two stores in Washington and Rolla, Missouri.  She entered into a contract with Sears Authorized Hometown Stores, LLC to exclusively distribute Sears merchandise from these two stores.  The agreement states that Loyd would distribute Sears merchandise on a consignment basis and that the merchandise would remain Sears’ property until ownership was transferred to a customer.  In exchange, Loyd was paid a commission based on the amount of sales.  Loyd was to deposit all proceeds from each store into a “holding” account until they could be transferred to Sears.  The indictment states that from April 2013 to December 2014, Loyd embezzled approximately $400,000 from Sears, by making unauthorized withdrawals from the holding account and falsifying the monthly statements to hide the missing funds.

If convicted, each count of wire carries a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rolla and Washington, Missouri Police Departments. Assistant United States Attorney John Ware is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.