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Mo. woman with history of theft sentenced for embezzling from employer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A North Kansas City woman was sentenced to eight years in prison without parole for embezzling more than $290,000 from her employer.

Federal prosecutors say 40-year-old Tonya Topel was sentenced Monday and ordered to pay $291,193 in restitution for four fraud schemes she ran as senior auditor at Construction Benefits Audit Corp.

She spent the money on a lavish lifestyle, including travel, entertainment and jewelry.

Prosecutors say Topel had an unrelated criminal case pending in Johnson County, Kansas, for stealing from her previous employer and was on pretrial supervision when she was hired by CBAC. Topel pleaded guilty to forgery and theft in that case, and paid her criminal defense lawyer using CBAC’s credit card.

According to court records, Topel reportedly stole $26,000 from another employer after leaving CBAC.

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