VALLEY — In a recently unsealed indictment, a federal grand jury in Montgomery charged a Valley woman with filing false tax returns and wire fraud.

According to the indictment, Alita Baker Edeker, 48, is charged with stealing over $500,000 of her Auburn employer’s funds for her own benefit and the benefit of others from February 2007 through May 2014. She did this by directing customer payments to debit and credit cards she controlled.

Doug Howard, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Alabama, said the name of Edeker’s employer was currently being withheld from the public record.

It is also alleged that Edeker made false statements and representations in the company’s books and records in order to conceal her misappropriation.

After misappropriating the funds, the indictment further alleges that Edeker willfully filed false U.S. individual income tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012, and 2013
that did not report the money.

If convicted, Edeker faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return. Edeker also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Franklin commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation and the Auburn, Alabama Police Department, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorney Grace Albinson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Baxley, who are prosecuting this case.