Former Cargill employee pleads guilty to defrauding company of millions

A former accounting manager at a Cargill Inc. grain shipping facility in New York pleaded guilty to stealing more than $3.1 million from the company and causing at least $25 million in losses for it.

Diane Backis, 50, admitted Monday in federal court in the Northern District of New York to committing mail fraud and falsifying an income tax return. The scheme occurred over 10 years while she was an employee at Cargill’s Port of Albany facility, which sells, receives and stores grains.

Backis managed Cargill’s accounts, creating customer contracts, invoices and processing payments. She faces up to 20 years in prison for stealing hundreds of Cargill’s customer payments and depositing them into her personal bank accounts, said prosecutor Richard S. Hartunian.

http://www.startribune.com/former-cargill-employee-pleads-guilty-to-defrauding-company-of-millions/403460366/