Her lifestyle included a new Mercedes and lavish trips. The money wasn’t hers to spend

Molly Ann Guidry drove around in a new Mercedes-Benz and paid for weekly maid service, regular massages, meals at expensive restaurants and designer clothes.

She took regular trips to London, Belize and Jamaica.

In a few days, Guidry, a former bookkeeper and office manager at a Fort Worth company, will be headed to prison for six years.

Guidry, 43, of Fort Worth, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to theft of property over $200,000.

“It is important for all small business owners to recognize that segregation of duties and internal controls are critical safeguards for the accounting side of their business,” prosecutor Nathan Martin said in a news release.

Martin warned small-business owners that they are exposed to embezzlement from the inside when a single employee is the company’s sole bookkeeper.

Guidry was that employee with Legacy Signs in Fort Worth. In 2011, she was hired to process accounts payable and payroll.

Prosecutors said company owners believed that Guidry, who was a personal friend, was a trusted employee.

But Capital One Bank contacted the business in October 2015, alerting it of suspected fraudulent account activity.

An investigation revealed that Guidry imitated transfers totaling more than $120,000 and issued herself fraudulent checks of more than $90,000.

The money was used to pay off credit cards and car notes for her and her husband and to pay rent, according to prosecutors.

Guidry pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this year. During her pre-sentencing investigation, Guidry forged letters testifying that she had good character and sent to the court, according to the Tarrant County district attorney’s office.

This story was originally published October 11, 2017 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Her lifestyle included a new Mercedes and lavish trips. The money wasn’t hers to spend."