Chesterfield woman pleads guilty to embezzlement

A Chesterfield County woman pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing $151,000 over five years from her employer, Drytac Corp., where she worked as the accounts payable clerk for nearly a decade.

After hearing a summary of evidence, Henrico County Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. convicted Faye G. Barksdale, 48, of five counts of embezzlement stemming from a false-invoice and check-forgery scheme dating to 2003.

Barksdale's attorney, John Goot, told the court that she apparently used the stolen proceeds to pay debts, including mortgage payments, utility bills and other household expenses. "She has nothing to show for [the money she took]," he said.

Henrico prosecutor David Stock said Drytac might not have ever discovered the theft had Barksdale not left one of her counterfeit checks in the company's copying machine on the Friday before she went on vacation last year.

"Another employee checked the copier [the following] Monday and sees a check on the copier that's got Faye Barkdsale's name and address taped over" the name of the recipient, Stock said. "They never would have caught her [otherwise]."

Her employer manufactures and sells heat-activated and pressure-sensitive mounting adhesives, overlaminating films and inkjet media, as well as other products. The company has a local office on Glen Alden Drive in Henrico.

As Drytac's accounts payable clerk, Barksdale processed and paid the company's bills, many of which were for shipping expenses. Beginning in 2003, Barksdale started generating false internal invoices for nonexistent bills, and she would send them for company approval with an attached check.

Once approved, Barksdale would cover the name and address on the check with her own name and home address, using the same font style. She would then put the altered check into the copy machine and, using Drytac's check stock, make a new check with her name, Stock said.

Since Barksdale printed all the company's checks, she had access to the blank check stock.

In the company's accounting records, the checks she forged would appear as payment to a particular vendor, "and all the accounts would balance because there was an internal invoice to corroborate it," Stock said.

Barksdale, who had been free on bond since her October arrest, was remanded to jail yesterday. She is to be sentenced July 15.

Barksdale faces up to 20 years in prison or, at the discretion of the court, 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or .