Woman Who Embezzled $34M Gets 11 Years

Compulsive shopper had to cover her bills
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 17, 2010 6:33 PM CST
Woman Who Embezzled $34M Gets 11 Years
File photo   (Shutterstock)

A woman with a compulsive shopping problem who cooked the books of the company she worked for to pay her bills is going to prison for 11 years. Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva admitted stealing $34 million over 12 years from stereo headphone manufacturer Koss Corp. of Wisconsin while she worked as VP of finance, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She took all but $3 million of that between 2004 and 2009—an amount that represented 60% of the small company's net income—in ways so byzantine that accountants still haven't figured out how she hid all the fake entries.

"In simple terms, she made the purchases first, then used Koss funds to pay for them in a catch-as-catch-can manner," says her attorney. "She had all of her personal bills sent to the office, and just opening the bills would cause her to go gaga, break into a heavy sweat and have trouble breathing," he wrote. Then she'd resort to the only thing that calmed her: more shopping.
(More Sue Sachdeva stories.)

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