O’Fallon, Mo., woman sentenced to probation after confessing to $85K embezzlement scheme

ST. CHARLES — An O’Fallon, Mo., woman pleaded guilty on Monday to embezzling more than $85,000 from her employer over a multi-year period.

Tammy Murray, 50, worked for Nation-Wide Refrigeration Inc. in St. Charles for 12 years. As part of her job duties, she was given a company credit card and was instructed to “use the card for legitimate purchases for the business.”

Instead, investigators said that she used the credit card to purchase things on Amazon for her family, pay her monthly utility bill, pay her child’s car loan payments, and transfer money to PayPal accounts belonging to herself and her husband.

Nation-Wide Refrigeration uncovered the embezzlement scheme in an audit of its books.

Murray was sentenced to five years of probation. She had faced up to 10 years in prison for the felony count of stealing.

Murray must complete several steps as part of her probation, including paying $62,715 in restitution to her previous employer. She is also banned from returning to the company’s property and may not work in a position with access to a company’s financial accounts.