Former Keene Woman Sentenced to Prison for Stealing Almost $500,000 from her Employer

CONCORD - A former Keene woman was sentenced yesterday in federal court for stealing almost $500,000 from her former employer, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

Stephanie Pratt, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Landya B. McCafferty to 30 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. On August 6, 2024, Pratt pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

"The defendant used her position of trust as an employee to steal nearly a half-million dollars from a small New Hampshire business. Among other items, she used the stolen money to purchase a hot tub and she spent over $5,600 on lavish tickets to watch Tom Brady's return to Gillette Stadium," said U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young. "The defendant's criminal conduct was bold, as she began her fraud only six months after serving a sentence for stealing from a previous employer. The defendant will spend the next two and a half years in federal prison for her deceit along with the financial and emotional turmoil she caused her employer."

"Stephanie Pratt is a greedy, serial fraudster who is being sent to prison for defrauding her employer and siphoning almost half-a-million dollars to live well beyond her means," said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. "Today's sentence holds Ms. Pratt responsible for her clear disdain for the law and shows how the FBI will not hesitate to go after those who victimize others for their own financial gain."

Pratt was the office administrator for a company based in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. She had full access to the company's finances, including its bank accounts and credit cards. Over the course of six-and-a-half years, Pratt stole $492,325.34 from the company. She started stealing shortly after she was released from jail for stealing almost $10,000 from her previous employer.

Pratt cashed unauthorized checks to herself and entered them as payments to legitimate vendors in the company's accounting system. Pratt also used the company's credit cards to make over 1,000 unauthorized personal purchases. The fraudulent purchases included over $5,600 to purchase NFL tickets for Tom Brady's return to Gillette stadium in 2021 and over $50,000 on Amazon purchases on items including a hot tub. Pratt also used the stolen money on things like plane tickets and miscellaneous herbs and spices.

When confronted about the stealing, Pratt repeatedly lied to the victim company, such as claiming that the owner had her cash the checks to funnel the money to the owner's son. However, unbeknownst to Pratt the son had already passed away. Pratt also doctored the victim's financial records. For example, she edited the company's credit card statements to delete unauthorized purchases. When asked why there were missing entries in the statements, Pratt claimed that she had simply adjusted the statements to make them easier to read. She also claimed that her misuse of the company credit cards was attributable to her clicking the wrong button at checkout, despite that happening more than 1,000 times. And, when she was fired for stealing, Pratt demanded that the owner's widow pay her a Christmas bonus.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen prosecuted the case.

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