Ex-employee sentenced for $487,000 fraud

Dept. of Justice

U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig recently sentenced a former employee of a St. Louis County realty company to three years in prison for embezzling $487,000 from her employer.

Crystal Hendrix, 50, of Festus, was also fined $10,000 and ordered to repay the money she stole.

Hendrix handled payroll as part of her duties with the real estate company and had access to the company bank accounts.

From about Jan. 8, 2018 to Dec. 9, 2020, Hendrix sent over 140 payments totaling approximately $483,037 to her own bank account. Hendrix used the money at restaurants and to buy a vehicle, her plea agreement says.

Hendrix pleaded guilty in March to three counts of wire fraud.

The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gwendolyn Carroll and Edward Dowd III prosecuted the case.