Former University Plaza Hotel Employee Sentenced for Stealing $170,000

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A woman who used to work at Springfield University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center is sentenced for stealing nearly $170,000 from the hotel.

In February, Janet R. Mosier, of Springfield, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty to a federal information that charges her with wire fraud.

Mosier, 47, served as director of accounting services at University Plaza, and admitted to defrauding her employer from January 2003 to October 2010. On Thursday, she was sentenced in federal court to 21 months in federal prison without parole.

Mosier stole $169,864 from the University Plaza petty cash account by falsely reporting inflated amounts of petty cash spent, and diverting the excess to her own bank account. She's been ordered to pay that amount in restitution.

The U.S. Attorney says over the years, Mosier submitted receipts from her personal expenses, and receipts obtained from family members, to support the fraudulently inflated reports of petty cash outlays.

Many receipts, which Mosier altered by removing transaction dates, were used multiple times. Mosier submitted one such receipt, actually for her sister's dental expenses, 30 times over the course of three and a half years.

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Former University Plaza Hotel Employee Admits to Stealing $170,000