OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) makes four arrests on Tuesday (August 24, 2021) morning in an embezzlement scam that included more than one thousand fraudulent transactions totaling more than $700,000.
In custody are Linda Elliott (54), the office manager for Ben Hayes Construction, Linda’s husband Keith Elliott (63), Shelia Railback (51) and Shelia’s wife Tatiana Railback (38). Together they face dozens of charges related to embezzling funds from Ben Hayes Construction.
The investigation began in February 2021 when the McClain County Sheriff’s Office requested OSBI assistance after the owner of Ben Hayes Construction reported that his office manager/bookkeeper Linda Elliott embezzled approximately $700,000 from the business.
Linda Elliott was hired by the owner of the business in November 2019. In February 2020, the owner moved to Florida and left Linda Elliott in charge of paying bills and processing payroll.
The investigation uncovered that during Linda Elliott’s tenure as office manager/bookkeeper hundreds of fraudulent transactions were made on the business account, the owners credit cards and other accounts including:
95 fraudulent checks and direct deposits on the Ben Hays Construction account totaling $410,780.45
318 fraudulent charges on one credit card for $64,520.33
174 fraudulent charges on a second credit card for $64,806.82
151 fraudulent charges on a third credit card for $11,567.37
361 fraudulent charges on a fourth credit card for $137,752.26
39 fraudulent charges on a credit card obtained by Linda Elliott using the company owner’s identity totaling $2,167.40
7 fraudulent charges on a fifth credit card for $4,795.07
33 fraudulent charges on the company owner’s Amazon account totaling $4,074.76
The Elliotts and the Railbacks were arrested this morning without incident and booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center.
Linda Elliott is facing 12 count of Embezzlement, 3 counts of Identity Theft, 10 counts of Violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, 1 count of Exploitation of the Elderly, and 1 count of Conspiracy.
Keith Elliott is facing 2 counts of Obtaining Money by False Pretenses, 3 counts of Receiving Stolen/Embezzled Property, and 1 count of Conspiracy.
Shelia Railback is facing 5 counts of Obtaining Money by False Pretenses, 2 counts of Receiving Stolen/Embezzled Property, 8 counts of violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, and 1 count of Conspiracy.
Tatiana Railback is facing 2 counts of Obtaining Money by False Pretenses, 2 counts of Receiving Stolen/Embezzled Property, and 1 count of Conspiracy.
They each have a $200,000 bond.
Assisting the OSBI with the investigation were the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.
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