Woman pleads guilty to making false credit card statements

COEUR d’ALENE — A Sagle woman pled guilty Tuesday in federal court in Coeur d’Alene to five counts of making a false statement in a credit card application, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 April Leigh Mathews, 40, of Sagle was hired in 2007 as an office assistant for a land development business in northern Idaho, owned by a husband and wife, according to federal officials. During the owners’ absence, from December 2007 to December 2008, Mathews forged the business owners’ signatures on checks and opened several credit cards off the business owners’ account.

Federal officials said Mathews used these credit cards for her own benefit,  and added her name as an authorized user of other credit cards. She also over-paid herself, and purchased items for herself from various merchants on credit cards that belonged to the business owners, according to Nancy Cook, assistant U.S. attorney.

In a press release, Cook said Mathews also overpaid her husband for work done on the business owners’ property.

In an attempt to cover checks she had written on the business accounts, Mathews took cash draws from the business owners’ credit cards and used money from her personal account, then deposited the funds in the business accounts. The total loss is alleged to be approximately $107,464.

The federal charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and maximum supervised release of five years.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 14 before U.S. District Judge Justin L. Quackenbush in Coeur d’Alene.