Former casino employee sentenced for theft of 401(k) plan assets

Kansas City — A former employee of a Kansas City, Mo., gaming casino was sentenced to one year in federal prison and three years of supervised probation after completion of her prison term. Dana Wachter also was ordered to make approximately $38,000 in restitution stolen from a co-worker.

The sentencing was based on a criminal investigation by the U. S. Department of Labor’s Regional Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in Kansas City, Missouri and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Dana Wachter was sentenced June 29, 2009 in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. She was indicted in June 2008 on one count each of aggregated identity theft, mail fraud and theft from an employee benefit covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

“Theft of employee benefit assets jeopardizes the benefits of workers. This case reaffirms the Labor Department’s commitment to protect workers’ benefits by identifying criminal activity wherever and whenever it occurs,” said Steve Eischen, director of EBSA’s Kansas City Regional Office.

The indictment charged that from November 2006 through July 2007, Wachter, a former table games dealer at a Kansas City casino, stole the identity of a co-worker in furtherance of a number of economic crimes that resulted in actual damages to the victim of over $38,000. The indictment contends that, in March 2007, Wachter used her co-worker's social security and personal identification numbers to authorize an $18,000 distribution from her co-worker’s 401(k) account. Wachter is further alleged to have used the mail to steal a distribution check and forged the participant’s signature on the check.

The criminal case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

U.S. v. Wachter
Criminal No. 4:08-cr-00180-GAF

U.S. Department of Labor news releases are accessible on the Department's Newsroom page. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202.693.7828 or TTY 202.693.7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit the Department's Compliance Assistance page.