Prominent Texas Family Has $29 Million Embezzled by Bookkeeper
- Woman pleads guilty to embezzling from Collins family entities
- Barbara Chalmers used money to fund a construction business
An American flag flies with the Texas state flag in Austin, Texas.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A Texas woman admitted embezzling more than $29 million over the past decade from the prominent Dallas family that employed her as a bookkeeper, according to the Department of Justice.
Barbara Chalmers, 74, pleaded guilty Thursday to using her position with a charitable foundation and multiple companies run by the family of Jim Collins, a businessman and Republican congressman who died in 1989, to fraudulently write herself at least 175 personal checks. She directed the bulk of the stolen money to her own construction business, according to federal prosecutors.