Woman sentenced for embezzling $1.4 million from Bellingham business
The former assistant office manager of a Bellingham business was sentenced in federal district court to two years in prison for embezzling more than $1.4 million from her employer.
Amy Siniscarco, 46, of Sedro-Woolley worked at Hardware Sales between 2010 and 2022, according to court records obtained by The Bellingham Herald. Some of her duties included paying invoices for the company’s business expenses and recording those transactions in their accounting system.
On Aug. 12, 2022, a bank representative informed the store’s owners that an electronic check was transferred from their business bank account to Siniscarco’s personal account. An audit of historical transactions found nine other fraudulent transfers to Siniscarco totaling $112,750.
Siniscarco was fired, but court records show the investigation into her continued. Officers discovered that credit cards registered to Hardware Sales’ accounts were used to pay for Siniscarco’s children’s daycare, activities, household and cell phone bills, and more than 1,800 personal Amazon purchases. Siniscarco also wrote business checks from the company’s accounts to bank accounts she controlled.
At the same time, she failed to report the stolen income on her tax returns, leading to a tax loss of $226,826.
“While Siniscarco lived above her means with stolen funds, her coworkers lost out on bonuses and profit sharing,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The total financial loss to the company totaled more than $1.42 million.
Siniscarco was arrested on Jan. 3, 2023 and charged with seven counts of theft, 13 counts of forgery and five counts of identity theft in Whatcom County Superior Court. She pleaded guilty to amended charges of wire fraud and filing a false tax return in federal district court on April 3.
In his sentencing memorandum submitted Oct. 30, U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd asked the court to impose a 33-month sentence followed by three years of supervised release. He also asked for her to repay the victims in full and pay the taxes she owes the U.S. Treasury.
Siniscarco’s public defender said that Siniscarco was “deeply sorry for her conduct,” and asked for five years’ probation including home confinement and the full restitution requested by the government.
A judge sentenced Siniscarco to two years in prison on Nov. 6. She must pay both the victims and federal government the money she owes for a total of more than $1.65 million.
This story was originally published November 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.