A bookkeeper for Farm Merchantile in Fairfax, Minn., was indicted Tuesday in federal court in St. Paul on wire fraud and tax charges for allegedly embezzling $535,000.
According to the indictment, Theresa Ernestine Linsmeier, 58, worked for Farm Merchantile from 1998 to 2016 and had authority to sign and issue company checks, as well as for its owner, Kelly Albrecht.
The indictment says that Linsmeier transferred money from the business and its owner's personal account to pay her personal credit cards, and used the money to gamble online from 2011 to 2016. She allegedly created false entries in the Farm Merchantile ledger to make it look like the money was used for legitimate business purposes.
Federal law requires people to report income from illegal activities, such as embezzlement, and pay income taxes on the proceeds, the indictment says.
Linsmeier faces five charges of filing false income tax returns by failing to report $266,333 in embezzled money for the tax years 2012 through 2016.
Linsmeier could not be reached immediately for comment.
Dan Browning • 612-673-4493
