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Former Kingman employee pleads guilty to misusing city credit card

Posted at 10:44 AM, Aug 29, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-29 14:30:04-04

A former City of Kingman employee has pleaded guilty for using a city credit card to pay for personal expenses for more than 7 years. 

Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced on Tuesday that 60-year-old Diane Maxine Richards pleaded guilty to four counts of theft. 

Investigators from the Attorney General's Office and ICE Homeland Security Investigations started an investigation after financial institutions reported unusual activity involving Richards' bank accounts. 

Authorities learned that Richards misused the city credit card to pay for personal expenses including payments to her cell phone, utility and car insurance bills. 

She had also used the credit card to pay off cash advances taken out at multiple casinos. 

Investigators found that Richards misused the city credit card from July 2007 through January 2015.

More than $100,000 was spent on the city credit card, authorities said. 

Authorities say Richards also misappropriated more than $900,000 from an Employee Benefits Trust account.

Richards faces up to 9.25 years in prison and will pay more than a million dollars in restitution to the City of Kingman and will forfeit her state retirement benefits, according to the Attorney General's Office. 

Her sentencing is scheduled for October 4.