David Hanners, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. –
A decade ago, Cynthia Carol Jacobsen had a swindling conviction on her record and was drowning in debt so badly she filed for bankruptcy.
But beginning in 2008, it appeared fortunes had changed for the accounts-payable supervisor at Land O’Lakes Inc.
Now, federal prosecutors claim the Brooklyn Park woman’s newfound windfall — more than $1 million — arrived through embezzlement.
Jacobsen, 58, has been named in a felony information accusing her of a single count of mail fraud stemming from what prosecutors say was a scheme to defraud the Arden Hills-based dairy and food co-op.
The charge says part of her job was to authorize payments to Land O’Lakes’ vendors, so she listed her daughter as a vendor and approved payments to her.
The checks were mailed to Jacobsen’s home address, and she allegedly endorsed the checks, forging her daughter’s name, and cashed them.
From 2008 to May 15, she diverted about $1.1 million to herself, the charge claims.
Typically, a defendant is charged by an information filed by a prosecutor instead of by a grand jury indictment because they’ve entered into a plea agreement.
Jacobsen is not in custody and no date has been set for her initial court appearance, said her lawyer, federal public defender Andrew Mohring. He declined comment on the case.
Jeanne Forbis, a spokeswoman for Land O’Lakes, said Jacobsen “has been terminated from her role with the company” and that they wouldn’t discuss the case further because it
is “both a legal and a personnel matter.”
The single mail fraud count stems from the claim that on Dec. 20, 2008, Jacobsen approved a check for $2,599.93 to her daughter.
In addition to the criminal charge, federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of “any property, real or personal, which constitutes or us derived from proceeds” stemming from the alleged fraud.
Neither Forbis nor a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office would say how the alleged scheme was discovered, or what happened to the money. The charges do not say.
In years past, Jacobsen has suffered financial setbacks. In January 2002, she filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, claiming assets of $11,230 and liabilities of $86,560.
At the time, she was working in the accounting department of Best Buy in Bloomington, and she listed her monthly take-home pay as $1,805 against monthly expenses of $2,413, court records indicate.
When she filed, she had $100 in a checking account and $30 in savings.
She owed the IRS $1,300, and she also owed more than $41,000 on 18 credit cards.
Her debts were discharged in April 2002.
Forbis of Land O’Lakes declined to say whether the company was aware Jacobsen had a theft-by-swindle conviction on her record when she was hired.
Hennepin County court records show that in February 1990, Jacobsen pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of aggravated theft-by-swindle. It stemmed from an offense that occurred in October 1988.
She was given a stay of imposition and placed on five years’ probation, but was ordered to serve 10 consecutive three-day weekends in the Hennepin County Workhouse.
For 2-1/2 months, she had to show up at the workhouse at 7 p.m. Sunday, and was released the following Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The court docket shoes the amount involved was $17,199, but it doesn’t say whom the money was allegedly swindled from and the original criminal complaint was not immediately available.
She was ordered to pay at least $50 a month. Jacobsen completed her probation in March 1995, the court docket says.
