Former Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement Scheme and Related Tax Felony

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced that Roseanna Coomes, 67, of Bluefield, West Virginia, pled guilty to executing a decade-long wire fraud scheme where she embezzled more than $969,000 from her employer, Cole Truck Parts. She also pled guilty to a related tax offense.  As part of the plea, Coomes agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $969,316.68 to Cole Truck Parts and $64,330.10 to the Internal Revenue Service. The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Bluefield Police Department conducted the investigation. 

“You reap what you sow,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “More than 10 years of scheming and the theft of almost $1 million.  Being in business is difficult enough without an employee stealing from the company.  I want to thank IRS-Criminal Investigations and the Bluefield Police Department for excellent work in this case.”

As part of the plea, Coomes admitted that from about January 1, 2007, through mid-2017, as the office manager at Cole Truck Parts, she defrauded her employer by writing checks to herself and to another person and disguising those checks by making false entries into the company’s accounts. She further agreed that she made false statements on her tax returns for numerous years by not reporting that income.

Coomes faces up to 23 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 when she is sentenced on June 18, 2019. Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber is presiding over the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Timm Boggess and Meredith George Thomas are handling the prosecution.

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