A Liberty couple was charged Wednesday with a $2.8 million check-kiting scheme.

Laura Dejong is accused of embezzling funds from her former employer, Kansas City Screw Products from January 2003 to November 2011. Dejong was a secretary and bookkeeper at the family owned company for about 23 years, allowing her to forge checks drawn on the company’s bank account.

She is also accused of floating checks between her employer’s two banks to inflate the company’s account balances to compensate for the money she embezzled. She and her husband Craig Dejong are also charged with filing false tax returns.

According to court documents, significant gambling activity was identified for the Dejongs, well into the millions of dollars, from January 2002 to December 2011. The majority of the Dejongs’ gambling was at slot machines.

Records indicate that the Dejongs took at least eight cruises and spent more than $100,000 on payments for the cruises, vacations and airfare between 2005 and 2011.

During the time of the embezzlement scheme, according to court documents, the Dejongs used the stolen money to purchase a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe, a 2009 Honda Accord, a 1997 Crownline boat (20-foot fiberglass runabout), a 1997 Prestige boat trailer, a 1985 Chevrolet RV/motor-home (now a KC Chiefs party bus), a 2008 Jayco travel trailer.

The pair amassed four Ameriprise Brokerage accounts; four Kansas Speedway season tickets (for Passholder seats, parking passes, and track passes), four Kansas City Chiefs Club Level season tickets and parking passes, membership to the Chiefs Wolfpack Club, an exclusive members-only facility, and their residence.

U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson says the Dejongs owe the Internal Revenue Service a total of approximately $482,711.