Maryland Woman Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in $730,000 Ghost-Employee Payroll Scheme
BALTIMORE, Maryland - A Maryland woman pled guilty in federal court on November 6 to wire fraud in connection with a payroll embezzlement scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced. Tara Taylor Williams, 52, of Frederick, embezzled payroll funds from a private, member-owned country club where she worked in the accounting and human resources departments, U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes announced.
According to her guilty plea, beginning in 2010 and continuing through September 2025, Williams used her position and abused her employer's trust to steal payroll funds. Using her access to the payroll system, she created a fictitious employee whose name corresponded with a former employee, made up a fictitious address, and used a deceased individual's Social Security number. She also created two email accounts resembling the ghost employee's name, used a purported date of birth, and assigned the fictitious employee an employee number linked to another ghost employee.
Williams then made false timekeeping entries to generate payroll distributions and directed the deposit of the fictitious employee's payroll funds into her personal bank account. Through the scheme, the country club disbursed more than $900,000 in wages and withholdings, and Williams received more than $730,000 into her personal account, which she used for her own personal enrichment.
When the club discovered the ghost employee, Williams altered a document from the Maryland Child Support Administration and presented it to club management in an effort to show that the employee existed. The club later terminated her, and surveillance video showed her scanning and shredding documents before leaving. After search warrants were executed on her electronic accounts, law enforcement found internet searches about paying someone in error, ghost employee punishment, and the fictitious address, as well as a cell phone photo containing the ghost employee's two email addresses, purported date of birth, and the deceased individual's Social Security number.
Williams faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud. Sentencing is set for February 5, 2027, at 10 a.m. The case was investigated by the FBI Baltimore Field Office and the Montgomery County Police Department, and was announced with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul of the FBI and Acting Chief Darren Francke of the Montgomery County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Motsay and Catriona Coppler are prosecuting the case.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
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Photo: 图：美国司法部大楼（GSM 固定图库）。 / Photo: The U.S. Department of Justice building. (GSM asset library)
