HONOLULU — A former Big Island resident has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for stealing nearly $863,000 over four years from her Hawaii employer.
HONOLULU — A former Big Island resident has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for stealing nearly $863,000 over four years from her Hawaii employer.
Donna Alms, 55, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Honolulu after pleading guilty in January to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
Alms, who now lives in Las Vegas, had worked as an operations specialist for Waste Management of Hawaii.
She stole the money through an elaborate scheme between April 2010 and December 2014, according to federal prosecutors. She would overpay a vendor who provided temporary laborers for the company.
During court proceedings, Alms said she altered 247 invoices to the vendor by changing numbers on a template that she maintained. The company paid the vendor $862,722 more than what was owed.
She then directed the vendor to return $692,549, which she kept by disguising the amount as wages and placing herself on the vendor’s payroll.
Prosecutors said investigators could not track where all of the stolen money went.
U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson described Alms conduct as elaborate and repetitive. He ordered her to pay restitution of the full amount taken and to serve a three-year term of supervision after her release from prison.
Alms must turn herself in to begin her prison sentence in six weeks.
