Hospitality Employee Agrees to Plead Guilty to Tax Evasion, Fraud

The former accountant for the S.C. Hospitality Association has admitted to embezzling $480,000 from the organization and using the money for online gambling, according to multiple reports.

Federal documents show 41-year-old Rachel Duncan plans to plead guilty next week to federal charges of wire fraud and tax evasion, according to The State. 

Between 2006 and 2012, Duncan transferred the money from the Hospitality Association by writing checks to herself and depositing them in her personal account, according to a document filed in court by the U.S. Attoryney's Office in Columbia. She also transferred association money to her debit card, according to the document.

Duncan then transferred money from her bank account "to various shell companies around  the world which served as payment processors for an Australian online casino," according to the document.

Tom Sponseller, former president of the association, after he learned about a federal investigation into missing money at his organization.

A suicide note he left behind . He led the organization for more than 20 years.  

The three-page note also revealed that Duncan had confessed to Sponseller about the embezzlement, according to WIS. 

An audit conducted by the Hospitality Association in early March also . The audit found no evidence that Sponseller was involved with the missing money.

Duncan is scheduled to appear Wednesday at the Matthew Perry Courthouse in Columbia to plead guilty, according to The State.