St. Charles corporate executive pleads guilty to fraudulently using company’s credit card

ST. LOUIS, MO – United States District Judge E. Richard Webber accepted a plea today from Tara Sabatini. The 45-year-old St. Charles, Missouri resident pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

According to the plea agreement and Indictment, Sabatini was employed as the “Senior Director of Sales” by a company located in St. Louis, Missouri that sold wholesale amounts of food to various commercial customers, typically grocery store chains. The company provided Ms. Sabatini with a company-funded corporate credit card, and authorized her to use the credit card for official business, including work travel and some client expenses. 

During 2017-18, Sabatini used her corporate credit card to fund personal expenses, including but not limited to purchasing luxury ticket packages from a Major League Baseball team located in New York. She frequently engaged in electronic communications with New York employees of the team for ticket purchase and delivery purposes.  After receiving these tickets, Sabatini attended some of the baseball games and also gave some of the tickets to her friends and family.  Sabatini further sold some of the baseball tickets through an Internet service and spent the proceeds of the ticket sales on her personal expenses.   

The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of no more than 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of no more than $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, a Judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.

Judge Webber has set sentencing for January 21, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.            

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

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