Citrus Heights Insurance Bookkeeper Gets Prison Time

A Citrus Heights woman has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for embezzling money from her employer, an area insurance firm.

Kathe Rascher, 53, has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison on a count of mail fraud and a count of tax evasion.

"Rascher wrote checks to herself and her family members from the River Valley [Insurance Associates, Inc.] bank account," a press release from U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner stated. "In order to make it look like the checks were issued for legitimate expenses, she changed the name of the payees on the unauthorized checks in the accounting records, altered carbon copies of the checks, and created fictitious invoices."

She has also been ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution, the press release stated.

The full press release follows:

CITRUS HEIGHTS BOOKKEEPER SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS, NINE MONTHS IN PRISON FOR $1.7 MILLION FRAUD AND TAX EVASION 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. sentenced Kathe Rascher, 53, of Citrus Heights, today to 57 months in prison for one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. She was ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney S. Robert Tice-Raskin prosecuted the case.

According to court documents, Rascher, a bookkeeper for River Valley Insurance Associates Inc., embezzled more than $1.7 million from her employer. Rascher wrote checks to herself and her family members from the River Valley bank account. In order to make it look like the checks were issued for legitimate expenses, she changed the name of the payees on the unauthorized checks in the accounting records, altered carbon copies of the checks, and created fictitious invoices. She also reviewed the monthly bank statements and cancelled checks sent to River Valley and deliberately removed and destroyed any returned unauthorized checks that had been issued to her and her family. Rascher further failed to disclose the embezzled income in May 2006 when she filed her federal tax returns for tax years 2004 and 2005.

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