Puyallup woman admits to cheating Costco out of nearly $300,000

Even the fraud comes in bulk.

A Puyallup woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to embezzling nearly $300,000 from a Costco warehouse in Fife over a five-year span, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Robin Cline, 54, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges, which were brought against her in January. Federal prosecutors will ask Judge Benjamin Settle to sentence her to two years in prison at her sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 17.

Cline was an accounts receivable clerk at the warehouse from 1996 to 2016, when she resigned. In that job, she was tasked with processing payments and refunds for Costco customers.

Starting in 2011, she generated false entries to customers' accounts, then put the money in bank accounts belonging to her and her son. In total, there were 290 false entries in more than 100 customers' accounts, totaling $289,975. Cline has agreed to repay the money.

This story was originally published June 20, 2018 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Puyallup woman admits to cheating Costco out of nearly $300,000."