Gravette woman pleads guilty to theft of $1.03 million from Benton County, tax fraud

Connie Guild, 52, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday (April 13) to stealing more than $1 million from the Benton County government, and filing a false tax return. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks accepted the plea in Fayetteville.

Guild was formerly an accountant for the county and was in charge of overseeing the county travel fund, consisting of cash on-hand that was forwarded to county employees for approved travel.

To receive the cash, county employees submitted approved travel request forms to Guild. Once the travel was completed, the employee would submit receipts to Guild that were reconciled with the travel request forms, and any unspent cash was returned to Guild to be placed back into the travel fund.

Beginning in 2007, Guild started submitting false claims for the travel fund to the county treasurer, overstating the amount of money dispersed from the travel fund. As a result, the treasurer issued checks payable to the fund in amounts more than necessary for reimbursement. Guild cashed the checks and deposited the excess money into her personal bank account.

From 2007 to 2015, Guild failed to report the stolen money as income on her personal federal income tax returns.

Guild started working for the county as an accountant in 2005 and was fired last September. As part of the plea deal, Guild has agreed to repay the stolen money, totaling $1.03 million.

She will be sentenced at a later date. The theft charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a maximum fine of $250,000. For filing a false tax return, Guild faces a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $100,000.