Lamar Advertising Manager Guilty of Embezzling $200,000

(MoneyWatch)  A woman employed as an office manager at Lamar Advertising in Oklahmoma City pleaed guilty to stealing $200,000 from the company by diverting checks, according to the (wonderfully named) Norman Transcript.

Angela Smith used Lamar letterhead to persuade a check cashing business to cash Lamar checks over to her. She then made bogus entries in Lamar's computer system to hide her tracks.

The scheme began in 2004, and was investigated by the FBI:

"Starting in about April of 2004, she took checks made payable to Lamar to the check-cashing business, obtained cash in exchange for the checks, and used some or all of the cash for her own purposes rather than for the benefit of Lamar," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott E. Williams.

Williams said Smith used a computer in Oklahoma City to access Lamar's computer database in Baton Rouge, La., and fraudulently changed accounts receivable information for Lamar customers whose checks she had recently cashed.

Smith faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and restitution to Lamar.

Lamar should also probably remove her name from its corporate phone list, where Smith could still be found at press time.

• See previous stories on questionable antics in the ad business:
• Rita Sanders Advertising employee took $40K in agency credit card scam
• The Scale of the Stupidity at Leo Burnett
• Leo Burnett Pays $15.5 Million to Settle Allegations It Defrauded the U.S. Army
• Tom Seifert Made Chairman at Ogilvy; His Ex-Con Wife Is Still in Business
• Lamar Advertising Still Embroiled in Pittsburgh Ethics Scandal
• American Apparel Eyed By SEC Over "Almost Bankrupt" Emails
• The Cost of Valassis' Suit vs. News America Is Eating Its Profit