HAYDEN, Idaho — A Hayden bookkeeper has been convicted of tax evasion, perjury and grand theft for embezzling money from her workplace.
According to the Idaho State Tax Commission, Rachel Berger was sentenced to 15 years in prison, followed by five years indeterminate.
Berger began working as a receptionist in 2017 and eventually took over her job’s bookkeeping responsibilities. In 2022, one of the business owners found discrepancies with the books and credit card balances Berger was working on.
The company said Berger had used business credit cards to pay for over $162,000 of her own expenses, including rent, food, flights, hotels and online purchases.
The company received a repayment of more than $92,000 of that money.
The Idaho State Tax Commission said Berger evaded taxes on her state income tax returns for 2020-2022 by not reporting the embezzled money.
The Kootenai County District Court decided to suspend Berger’s sentence and put her on 10 years of supervised release along with 120 hours in jail and 300 hours of community service.
Berger is also required by the court to pay more than $70,500 in restitution to her former employer.
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