Jennifer L. Bengston Cook, a 56-year-old resident of Greer, South Carolina, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges. Cook is also required to pay $2.2 million in restitution.
Cook served as a part-time bookkeeper for a small business located in Duncan for over ten years. During her employment, she unlawfully wrote checks from the company’s bank accounts to herself and deposited them into her personal account. To conceal her actions, she marked the checks as void in the business ledger and altered records in QuickBooks to reflect payments to other employees or vendors. Some checks were labeled as payroll with specified dates, and occasionally she issued multiple payroll checks for the same period. Additionally, Cook used company funds to settle her personal credit card debts.
The fraudulent activities came to light while Cook was on vacation when her supervisor sought documentation for a vendor payment. Following this discovery, Cook’s employment was terminated, and authorities were informed leading to multiple wire fraud charges filed against her in federal court.
U.S. District Judge Jacquelin D. Austin oversaw the case proceedings and imposed a 36-month federal prison sentence on Cook along with an order for restitution amounting to $2,276,830.09. It is important to note that there is no parole option available within the federal system.
The FBI Columbia Field Office conducted the investigation of this case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins managed its prosecution.
