Woman Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud In Embezzlement From Oklahoma Beef Council

An Edmond, Okla., woman pled guilty Wednesday to bank fraud and signing a false federal income tax return in connection with a $2.6 million embezzlement from the Oklahoma Beef Council, U.S. Attorney Mark A. Yancey said in a news release. In May, Melissa Day Morton was charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false federal income tax return. She’d worked for the Beef Council as its accountant from October 1995 until late July 2016.  Morton pled guilty to preparing an unauthorized company check, in the amount of $5,652.25, made payable to herself in February 2016. She admitted she forged the signature of the Beef Council’s executive director on the check and later presented that check for payment against the Beef Council’s bank account at a local bank. As part of her plea, Morton further admitted that she embezzled funds from her former employer from around 2009 through 2016, and stipulated that the total loss to the Beef Council from her embezzlement scheme was $2,681,400.73.  She faces 30 years in prison.