Southwest Missouri woman sentenced for embezzling nearly $300k from employer
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Strafford, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for using a company credit card for over $295,000 of fraudulent charges.
Kayellen Faye Inskip, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 36 months in federal prison without parole and 3 additional years of supervised release. At sentencing the court found that Inskip’s crimes resulted in a loss of $295,771.91 and issued an order of restitution in the same amount.
On Oct. 10, 2024, Inskip pleaded guilty to one count of access device fraud. According to court documents, Inskip admitted to using the credit card issued by her employer, Mears Floral, to make unauthorized personal purchases. The criminal offense pled guilty to by the defendant involved the unlawful use of a credit card between August 31, 2021, through August 25, 2022. However, Inskip was sentenced under facts that were presented to the Court in which her true scope of her embezzlement occurred beginning in 2014 and continuing into 2022, only stopping after her fraud was discovered by company officials.
Inskip used the company card to pay for travel including airplane tickets, vacations that included cruises with Carnival Cruise Line, and vacations to Disney World, as well as entertainment, restaurants, clothing, utilities, medical bills, and she even paid college tuition and fees for her own daughter. Inskip used her position as a bookkeeper and Operations Manager with the business to authorize payments for her fraudulent purchases. Inskip would then provide false financial reports to officers in the company that allowed her to both hide her embezzlement from more than 7 years and ultimately steal nearly $300,000.
Mears Floral was a Springfield, Missouri, business that started in 1949, serving retail florists in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. This hometown business was in operation for over 70 years and based on statements made to the Court, Inskip’s massive embezzlement resulted in Mears Floral going out of business, closing its doors, and the firing of its employees. When Mears Floral closed its doors, it had to layoff nearly 33 employees, who had an average of nearly 11 years of employment with Mears Floral, as well as other employees who had worked for over 50 years with this well-known local business. The loss of Mears Floral, at the hands of Inskip, caused an unknown amount of true losses to the company, its employees, and ultimately the local community who benefitted from the operations of this successful business.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the United States Secret Service.