The state says she stole $170K from her employer and spent it on Door Dash. Now this
An Idaho City woman owes $170,000 to her former employer after she was caught embezzling and spending the money on food-delivery apps.
Charlene Smith, an office manager and bookkeeper for Northwest Industrial Machine in Nampa, used the business’ funds between 2021 and 2022 to make purchases on Uber Eats, DoorDash and Facebook Pay, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission in Boise.
Northwest Industrial Machine sold new and used tractors and other farming equipment. The last post on the store’s Facebook page, on Aug. 9, 2023, said it was holding a sale before closing its doors.
Smith also wrote unauthorized checks to herself and made direct deposits to her personal Cash App account, the commission said in a news release. Then she failed to report the embezzled funds on her 2021 state income tax return.
Smith pleaded guilty to state income tax evasion and forgery. She was sentenced by Judge Randall Grove in Canyon County District Court in Caldwell to 19 years of supervised probation, in addition to paying the restitution to her former employer.
She could face prison time if she doesn’t follow the terms of her probation, the release said.
“Deliberately providing false information on a tax return is fraud,” Jeff McCray, the commission’s chairman, said in the release. “Taxpayers must accurately report income from all sources on their tax returns.”
The commission said it routinely uncovers tax crimes by analyzing tax returns and conducting tax audits. It also gets tips from the police, other state agencies and the public. To report a tax crime, the commission invites people to email the commission’s fraud unit at fraud@tax.idaho.gov.
