Missouri Woman Admits International Embezzlement that Cost Employer $3.8 Million

ST. LOUIS – A Missouri woman on Thursday admitted embezzling at least $3.8 million from her employer with the help of co-conspirators in China.

Bridget Thebeau, 45, of St. Charles County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to five counts of wire fraud. She admitted embezzling from her employer from roughly January 2015 to March 2024 via more than 200 fraudulent purchase orders. Thebeau struck a deal with some of her employer’s suppliers in China in which she caused the company to pay the suppliers for products that the company did not need and never received. In exchange, Thebeau’s co-conspirators in China shared the proceeds of the scam with her. Thebeau tried to hide her crime with fraudulent shipping labels and fraudulent bills of lading issued by the China-based suppliers, fraudulent invoices that she created and claimed she had issued to the company’s customers and false information she supplied to the company’s owner and accountants.

Ultimately, Thebeau triggered fraudulent payments of at least $3,821,152 to the company’s China-based suppliers, and in return her co-conspirators wired her more than $2 million.

Thebeau was hired in 2002 by the family-owned company. Her crime resulted in substantial financial hardship to the company’s owner, who is no longer able to retire due to her embezzlement, the plea agreement says.

Thebeau is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 11, 2025. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Secret Service and the Chesterfield Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.