Birmingham Woman Sentenced To 33 Months For Embezzlement

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A federal judge Wednesday sentenced a Birmingham woman to 33 months in prison for embezzling more than $680,000 from her former employer. Cindy Madison, 55, pleaded guilty to wire fraud earlier this year.

According to the plea agreement, between January 2007 and November 2017, Madison worked for GW Systems as the head of Payroll Administration. As the Payroll Administrator, Madison had access to corporate bank accounts and checks for GW Systems and Liberty Construction Services, as well as to the signature stamp used to sign checks in the name of the owner.

Madison was authorized to use the signature stamp for business purposes only, but between April 2016 and November 2017, Madison reportedly used the stamp to create unauthorized checks payable to herself and her husband, and deposited them into her personal bank account in the amount of $683,475.85.

"This defendant abused the trust of her employer," U.S. Attorney Jay Town said. "This sentence is a strong clear message that abuse of trust and misuse of funds will result in federal incarceration."

U.S. Secret Service investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark prosecuted.