Steal big money? Better pay taxes on it

The government will not be stiffed, even on its cut of stolen money.

When a federal judge in Kansas City sentenced a Kansas City woman this week, he ordered restitution that includes more than $366,000 in stolen money and more than $58,000 she did not pay in taxes on the loot.

Julie A. Hughes, 45, was also sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

She pleaded guilty in February to receiving stolen money and to making a false statement on a tax return.

Also from a media release by federal prosecutors:

Hughes was an accountant for Professional Accounting Systems who was to prepare and distribute payroll for Pathfinder Systems, a client.

She stole the money by directing payroll to a fictional employee on a bank account she controlled.

She did 167 fraudulent transactions from October 2011 to November 2013.

A bookkeeper eventually found record problems and showed them to the company owner, who confronted Hughes, who confessed.

The company paid the money back to client Pathfinder Systems, but the theft and payback had a big impact on the small accounting company.