ALBANY – A Greene County woman pled guilty in federal court in Albany
on Monday to stealing at least $3.1 million from Cargill, Inc. over a
10-year period and causing at least $25 million in losses.
Diane Backis, 50, of Athens was an accounting manager at Cargill, the
country’s largest privately held corporation based in Minnesota.
Backis pled guilty to mail fraud and filing a false income tax return
and faces up to 20 years in prison and three years of probation when sentenced
in March of next year.
She was responsible for accounting functions related to Cargill’s
grain operations in Albany, including creating customer contracts, generating
and mailing invoices, and receiving and processing customer payments.
As part of her plea, Backis admitted that she defrauded Cargill while
working in its Port of Albany facility, which receives, stores and sells
grain products.
US Attorney Richard Hartunian said Backis stole millions by diverting
customer payments to her personal bank accounts and sold grain products
for millions less than her employer paid, causing “enormous financial
losses.”
She admitted in court that she stole hundreds of customer payments sent
to Cargill totaling at least $3.1 million and deposited them into her
personal bank accounts. She also regularly created fraudulent invoices
and mailed them to Cargill customers directing them to send payment directly
to her, which bypassed the company’s corporate controls.
