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Payroll Supervisor For Chattanooga Construction Firms Agrees To Plead Guilty To Embezzling $258,479

  • Tuesday, March 2, 2021

The payroll supervisor for two Chattanooga construction firms has agreed to plead guilty to embezzling $258,479 from the firms.

Danna Morrison is pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, according to documents in Federal Court.

She faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a possible fine of up to $250,000.

Prosecutor Steve Neff said Berry Construction Company and Hutton Construction Company are construction companies with projects all over the country. BCC and HCC have a combined total of about 100 employees, about half of which work in the office, and half of which work outside the office, in the field, building projects.

Each week, field employees receive payroll payments, as well as per diem payments, which are made through electronic fund transfers. HCC held its payroll account at Pinnacle Bank.

In May 2017, Ms. Morrison began working at BCC as a temporary worker from AccounTemps. She was hired as a full-time employee in August 2017 as the payroll administrator.

The prosecutor said about October 2018, Ms. Morrison opened two bank accounts at Wells Fargo Bank. He said he began funneling funds to herself through those accounts while listing that the money was going to employees.

He said funds which she embezzled were used to pay personal expenses, including the purchase of a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado crew cab pickup truck, a 2018 Mercedes Benz automobile, mortgage payments on land and a prefabricated home, improvements to land and a swimming pool.

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