A famous bakery in the small town of Corsicana, Texas, has been selling its world-renowned fruitcakes since 1896. Over the years, this bakery became quite successful by being on the cutting edge of mail-order desserts and shipping its fruitcakes worldwide. However, in the 1990s, fruitcakes fell out of fashion, and the bakery hit a slump.
During this time, one of the bakery’s accountants saw an opportunity. As the sole accountant for the sizable company, he had access to the books and the authority to print checks. Over the course of 9 years, he slowly siphoned off millions of dollars by disguising fraudulent checks as legitimate business expenses.
It started small – he purchased a luxury car on the company credit card, then printed a check to “pay off” the card but diverted those funds for personal use. When profits declined but no one noticed the discrepancy, he got bolder. Soon, he stole nearly $100,000 a month, funding an extravagant lifestyle well beyond his modest $50,000 salary.
The accountant lavished his wife with expensive gifts like luxury cars and jewelry, telling her it came from side income that she wasn’t to mention to anyone. He traveled by private jet, built an impressive wine collection, and completely renovated their home. But to coworkers and neighbors, he remained humble and unassuming.
The ruse continued for years until the company hired a second accountant to help manage the workload. The new hire didn’t take long to notice something fishy in the books. The CEO immediately fired the fraudulent accountant and called the authorities when presented with the evidence.
In a desperate attempt to hide the extent of his theft, the accountant raced around town, ditching Rolexes and other valuables in random places like ponds and parks. But it was too late. The FBI raided his home and seized everything they could, holding a sale to return some assets back to the bakery. While they recovered several million dollars worth of luxury items, the accountant had already stolen more than $16 million over the years.
In the end, the accountant was sentenced to 10 years in prison, where he later died. His wife received minimal punishment, including probation, community service, and a ban on driving a light blue Mercedes again – she had to switch to midnight blue. The bakery fought to rebuild its brand after being betrayed by a trusted employee who almost sank the iconic Texas fruitcake company through nothing more than greed and deception. Today, Colin Street Bakery has bounced back from the fraud and has even recounted the story on the company website.
Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning and laughing a lot while you do, you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!
Sources
The Sandy Jenkins Embezzlement Scandal – Colin Street Bakery
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