Jennifer L. Bengston Cook, a 56-year-old resident of Greer, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison following her guilty plea to wire fraud charges. Additionally, she is required to pay $2.2 million in restitution.
Court records reveal that Cook was employed as a part-time bookkeeper for a small business in Duncan for over ten years. During this time, she illicitly wrote checks from the company’s bank accounts to herself and deposited them into her personal account. To conceal her actions, she manipulated the business ledger by marking these checks as void or attributing them to other employees or vendors in QuickBooks. On some checks, she falsely indicated they were for payroll or reimbursements and even issued herself multiple payroll checks for the same period.
Cook’s fraudulent activities came to light while she was on vacation when her supervisor sought records of vendor payments. Following this discovery, Cook was dismissed from her position and law enforcement was informed, leading to her being charged with multiple counts of wire fraud in federal court.
The case was overseen by U.S. District Judge Jacquelin D. Austin who imposed a 36-month prison sentence on Cook along with an order to pay $2,276,830.09 in restitution. The federal system does not offer parole.
The investigation into Cook’s actions was conducted by the FBI Columbia Field Office with Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins prosecuting the case.
