PHILADELPHIA. – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Tammy Simpson, 51, of Pocono Lake, PA, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone to 41 months’ imprisonment for wire fraud and filing false tax returns, charges stemming from the defendant’s employment with Metal Traders, Inc., d/b/a Triad Metals International (“Triad”), where she worked as the Assistant Controller for fourteen years.
Simpson was also ordered to pay $3,199,192.68 in restitution and $708,643 to the Internal Revenue Service.
In June of 2022, Simpson was charged by indictment with eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of making and subscribing a false tax return. In June 2023, Simpson pleaded guilty to all charges against her.
Between 2012 and when she was terminated in October 2019, Simpson used her position at Triad to steal company money and use it to pay personal expenses charged to her credit cards and to make payments on personal loans. She did so by paying her personal credit card bills and loan payments with electronic transfers from the company’s business checking account. The defendant also kept credit cards from employees who had left the company and used them to charge personal expenses, including airfare and other entertainment expenses for her family and friends, and to pay her personal tax liabilities and those of other individuals for whom she prepared tax returns. None of these payments or transfers were for legitimate business expenses of her employer. Further, Simpson failed to report the money stolen from the company as income on her tax returns for tax years 2015 through 2018.
“Tammy Simpson was a valued employee, entrusted with significant financial responsibilities,” U.S. Attorney Romero said. “For years, she abused that trust and her access to the business’s accounts, stealing more than $3 million of Triad’s money so she could continue to live beyond her own means. This sentence holds her accountable for her crimes and sends a message loud and clear that this is not the way to go about boosting your bank account.”
“From paying personal credit cards to purchasing airfare and entertainment, Tammy Simpson stole company money to fund her lifestyle,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The FBI alongside our partners at the IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to pursue criminals who orchestrate their schemes out of greed.”
“Anyone contemplating cheating on their taxes should know that our largest enforcement program is directed at the portion of American taxpayers who willfully and intentionally violate their known legal duty of filing and paying their taxes,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Denise Leuenberger. “We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice to continue aggressively investigating individuals who engage in money laundering, tax fraud, or other types of white-collar crimes.”
