Former City Chevrolet Controller to Serve 46 Months in Prison for Mail Fraud and Tax Evasion

OKLAHOMA CITY—DEBRA A. MINSHALL, also known as Debra Alzubi, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti to serve 46 months in federal prison for using the U.S. Mail to defraud her former employer, City Chevrolet, and for evading the payment of federal personal income taxes, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. She was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims of her crimes totaling $1,409,114.00.

From 2002 until late 2008, Minshall worked as the controller at City Chevrolet, in Oklahoma City. Her duties included writing checks, including checks to pay off liens on automobiles purchased by the dealership. Minshall used her position and access to the financial accounts to steal from the dealership by signing City Chevrolet checks and mailing them to banks to pay her personal credit card bills. She then disguised these personal payments as lien payments on automobiles that did not exist, that did not require lien pay-offs, or that had liens held by different banks. For each of the years 2006 through 2008, Minshall also failed to report more than $200,000 in taxable income on her federal income tax returns.

In May of 2010, Minshall pled guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion.

At the sentencing hearing today, Judge DeGiusti also ordered that Minshall pay restitution of $1,081,475.00 to the dealership and its insurer and $327,639.00 to the Internal Revenue Service. Minshall is also ordered to serve two years of supervised release after she has completed her 46-month prison term.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigations Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott E. Williams.