She pleaded guilty to embezzling half a million from an SC business, lying to the IRS

A North Carolina woman was sentenced to prison and owes more than half a million dollars to the South Carolina business she embezzled money from in addition to the IRS.

Kelly Sue Reynolds, 52, of Mooresboro, N.C., was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for five counts of tax evasion, according to U.S. Attorney Beth Drake.

Reynolds could have been sentenced to 25 years behind bars, according to S.C. law.

Additionally, Reynolds was ordered to pay a combined $556,760.03 to the business and the government.

Reynolds was the bookkeeper for a firm located in Cherokee County, where she paid bills for the firm, including federal taxes, Drake's office said.

The IRS audited the firm in 2014 because certain taxes had not been paid. During the audit, Reynolds admitted she embezzled $439,459.97 from the firm over a 5 year period, according to Drake's office.

Reynolds admitted that she attempted to covered up the embezzlement by falsifying the books, showing that she had paid bills which she had not paid, Drake's office reported.

Included in the unpaid bills were the missing taxes which started the investigation, which uncovered that Reynolds had not filed personal tax returns during the time she was embezzling funds, according to Drake's office.

Drake's office said that Reynolds owed the IRS $117,300.06 in personal income taxes, based on her salary and the money she stole. That number is based on illegally obtained funds as well as those legitimately earned, Drake said.

This story was originally published April 18, 2018 at 10:14 PM with the headline "She pleaded guilty to embezzling half a million from an SC business, lying to the IRS."