Shelby woman sentenced to 5 years for wire fraud

A Shelby woman was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for stealing nearly $411,000 from her employer and filing a false tax return, acting U.S. Attorney Jill Rose said.

Tara Gist-Savage, 42, pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud and filing a false tax return.

From 2008 to 2013, she worked for a Belmont-based energy services company and managed the payroll of the firm and that of an affiliated company.

According to court records, Gist-Savage used the personal information of the two companies’ former and inactive employees to generate fraudulent payroll checks and wires in the names of at least 49 people. She directed the checks and wires to four bank accounts held in her name.

From 2008 through 2012, Gist-Savage failed to report the fraudulently obtained income on her federal income tax returns, prosecutors said. The estimated tax due was about $101,650.

U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney on Tuesday also ordered Gist-Savage to serve five years under court supervision after she’s released from prison and to pay $512,586.04 in restitution.

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 8:01 AM with the headline "Shelby woman sentenced to 5 years for wire fraud."