A Valparaiso businesswoman was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to wire fraud, according to federal officials.
Randi Scannell, 66, was ordered to repay $460,000 and she will also serve one year on probation, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
Scannell owned Custom Drying Solutions, which built and refurbished commercial drum dryers. She handled the accounting, while her husband ran operations, court records show.
She signed a plea deal filed Nov. 15, admitting between September 2015 and August 2020, she embezzled money from “company A”, a Sioux City, Iowa-based firm. The latter company had used Scannell’s firm to service its drum dryers since 1999. When Scannell’s company agreed to start managing the other firm’s animal food drying plant in Missouri, she set it up so she, her husband and two sons got reimbursed out of the other company’s payroll without the other company’s knowledge, documents allege.
Federal court documents allege Scannell “inflated” worker wages in reports to “company A” to conceal what was happening.
The FBI investigated and the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven J. Lupa. Attorney Peter L Boyles represented Scannell. U.S. District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio presided.
