Talking trees part of shop spree in $6.9m fraud

A BOOKKEEPER for a construction materials company embezzled $6.9 million (€5.3m) and used the money to go on a shopping spree that included a 104-acre ranch and a half-dozen talking trees like those in The Wizard of Oz, federal authorities said.

Prosecutors say Angela Buckborough Platt also bought eight show horses; a fleet of motor vehicles including a 1964 Ford Thunderbird; a house on five acres in Rhode Island; Hollywood-grade cinematic props to decorate her home for Halloween; and a life-size Al Capone statue.

She worked as a staff accountant for J&J Materials Corporation in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, from 1999 to 2006.

Platt, 43, of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, has been charged with one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. She has agreed to plead guilty in a deal subject to court approval.

Platt also splurged on a 20-foot-tall smoke-emitting dragon called “The Slayer,” which sported hydraulically powered wings.