Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Women embezzles $10M from car dealer, buys 2011 Honda Crosstour

You almost have to feel sorry for Patricia Smith, the former controller at Baierl Acura who embezzled over $10 million from the suburban Pittsburgh dealership. Despite having stolen roughly $4,000 a day, seven days a week, for seven years, Smith's personal automotive aspirations extended no further than a new Honda Crosstour. Apparently being a criminal mastermind does not ensure good taste.

According to Automotive News, Smith did buy the requisite fleet of vehicles normally associated with so much dirty money but she gave away nine of the ten – including a ragtop Shelby Mustang for her husband. The 58-year-old woman's purchases also included charter flights to Europe and the Caribbean, Super Bowl tickets, four houses, and an autographed first edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, according to the report.

Her spending spree extended into the ridiculous, as Smith paid for a VIP Mass with the Pope, lunch catered by the Barefoot Contessa, and dinner with Kevin Spacey. Throughout all this profligate spending, Smith was earning a $53,000 annual salary, according to the report. She explained away her newfound wealth by saying she had invested in airline stock and worked as an online travel agent. Yet the woman was not exactly caught red-handed by her employer, as you might expect. After an e-mail from the dealership CFO questioned her accounting, she quit, and then confessed her crimes to the U.S. Attorney's office shortly thereafter, according to the report.

Smith's crimes ranked her fourth in a national survey of embezzlement crimes in 2011, according to AN, for which she earned a 78-month prison term that starts in July.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/06/21/w...nda-crosstour/

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

How the hell she managed to do that for that long? 4000.00 a day? you would think someone gotta catch it sooner?

Stormwind

Wow that is unbeliveable. An Acura dealership make enough money that someone can steal $4000 a day from? Amazing.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

That's the 1st thing came to my mind also.

I think she drives a Honda Crosstour is because she is smart, not because she has bad taste. A Crosstour is what a person with $53k annual salary would drive. If she pull up to work in a Phantom, people would know something is wrong much sooner. All the ridiculous spending spree she had was outside of work, noone at work would know. She is smart, that's why she can pull it off for 7 years!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

sounds like she is pretty "smart" then afterall

<VENOM>

4000 a day does not draw red flags for 7 years, she was obviously a back office girl in charge of finances

caddyowner

Three of my friends work / worked in dealer management: sales, service, & finance. They've all told me that with family-owned dealerships, the founder may have been very sharp, but the 2nd (or now 3rd) generation family members that now manage the store or parts of the store often don't know or don't care about their "jobs". They are just on a gravy train and trusted employees keep the place running. These trusted employees can sometimes steal the place blind. One of my buddies was hired by a dealer to replace an embezzling sales manager. Another guy was called back by a dealer six months after he turned down a $150K offer (in the mid-90s) to be service director. The owner asked him about some practices started by the service director they eventually hired and he told the owner how he was being fleeced. And no, he still wasn't interested in taking the job.

In an attempt to educate the next generation of dealer-owners, Northwood University in Midland, MI became ground-zero for professional business education for dealer family members. It includes a NADA hotel for ongoing professional training. Northwood also puts on an annual student-run, world-class car show.
http://www.northwood.edu/autoshow/

LeX2K

Clearly she felt guilty and chose to punish herself by driving a Crossturd.

xsh0tya

Stole for 7 years and got a 6 and half year prison term. Hopefully they order here to repay the money as well.

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Seems like a 90's hollywood comedy plot-line with her husband played by Rob Schneider.

grabber2

I'm sure all the property she own & given out are due for repossession.........If not, then that is ridiculous!!!!!

mmarshall

Except for the awkwardly-styled droop-rear-end that robs pcargo space, the Crosstour, IMO, is a much better vehicle than a lot of people think. In most areas, it is as good as the Subaru Outback it competes against. But, of course, that awkward rear end pays its price......it has cost a lot of sales. It just hasn't caught on much with the public.

mmarshall

A smart crook can get away with a surprising amount. Bernie Madoff proved that.

Look at it this way, Henry. She'll have a nice job in manufacturing now........making license plates.

ntran18

iTrader: (27)

6.5 yrs for 10 million to make plates with free room & board. Where do I sign up?

LexFather

I assume between seeing ugly Acura's all day and then driving a Crosstour she stole the money to repair her eyesight.