KC-area couple sentenced for $2.7M embezzlement, check-kiting scheme

The wife got 10 years without parole. The husband earned two years and six months.

On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced a Kansas City-area couple for their perpetration of a $2.7 million embezzlement and check-kiting scheme, as well as filing a false tax return.

Laura Dejong, a secretary and bookkeeper at Kansas City Screw Products, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. She initiated a check-kiting scheme between the company’s two banks and then embezzled $2.7 million from her employer.

Her husband, Craig Dejong, received his sentence after pleading guilty to filing a false tax return. The couple were said to be heavy gamblers, spending roughly $4.5 million primarily on slot machines.  

Read more from the Kansas City Business Journal.