San Antonio woman sentenced for embezzling $1.6 million

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A San Antonio woman who admitted to embezzling $1.6 million from her employer was sentenced today.

Irene M. Scott, 42, was sentenced to 87 months in prison. That amounts to a little over 7 years.

Scott was working for a private law firm in San Antonio as a bookkeeper and financial manager when she committed the fraud.

According to reports, Scott used three business credit cards in the name of other employees or former employees to make purchases totaling more than $1.2 million, with three-quarters of those funds used to support her husband’s business. Officials said she also stole $417,000 from the firm’s operating account over the course of 200 withdrawals from January 2018 to February 2020 and disguised the transactions as vendor payments on official documentation.

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to those who would betray their employers and fellow employees by committing fraud,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs. “The FBI is committed to seeing that individuals who commit these fraudulent acts are held accountable for their actions.”