Below is a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.
COEUR D’ALENE – Trina Welch, 49, of Osburn, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for committing wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced Monday.
According to court records, Welch was employed by Kasco of Idaho, LLC as an accountant from 2012 to 2019. Kasco is a construction and telecommunications company that operates in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Alaska.
Beginning in at least 2013 and continuing through the day she was terminated on July 3, 2019, Welch used her position as an accountant to engage in a scheme and plan to defraud Kasco and obtain money and property for myself.
Welch carried out the scheme by issuing 341 fraudulent checks to buy property, vehicles and travel for herself, her family and friends.
In January, Welch pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges, admitting that in 2017 alone she took over $930,000 just to pay off her Bank of America credit cards. As part of the plea agreement, Welch admitted to writing 341 fraudulent checks and agreed to pay restitution and forfeit her interest in any properties she bought with the money.
However, she disputed that the entire amount of the checks represented a loss to Kasco. After a two-day hearing, Chief US District Court Judge David C. Nye found that Welch’s scheme caused Kasco a loss of $3,673,934.00.
Chief Judge Nye also ordered Welch to forfeit her interest in six different properties she purchased with Kasco funds and to pay restitution in the amount of $3,678,237.73.
Welch was held in the custody of the United States Marshals Service after the hearing to begin her prison sentence. After prison, Welch will serve 3 years of supervised release, where he will be required to report to a US probation officer.
U.S. Attorney Hurwit for the District of Idaho made the announcement and praised the cooperative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rathdrum Police Department that led to the charges.
