Financial Analyst Charged With $1.4 Million Fraud Against Small Business Association

A former financial analyst has been charged with defrauding the North Texas Business Alliance (NTBA) out of more than $1.4 million in rebate funds, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.

Last week, a federal grand jury charged Tammy Walden Thomas, 60, with nine counts of wire fraud. Ms. Thomas made her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez on Monday.

According to the indictment, from March 2016 through October 2019, Ms. Thomas served as a financial analyst for NTBA, a cooperative association of hundreds of North Texas convenience stores and gasoline station owners that negotiated discounts with multinational food and beverage companies on behalf of its members.

As a financial analyst, Ms. Thomas was charged with passing these discounts, as rebates, on to NTBA members via automatic clearinghouse transfers.  However, she allegedly misdirected more than $1.4 million in rebate funds into her own bank accounts, lying to NTBA’s executives and accountants in the process. 

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Ms. Thomas is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fabio Leonardi is prosecuting the case.