Ex-fruitcake executive sentenced for embezzling $17million to fund life of lavish mansions, private jet vacations, Neiman Marcus shopping sprees and luxury cars

• Sandy Jenkins 'used 888 company checks from historic Collin Street Bakery to bolster his account'
• FBI seized luxury cars, jewelry and mink coats
• Jenkins, who worked for the bakery from 1998 until he was discovered stealing in June 2013, was supposed to have a salary of only $50,000
• Bakery's new account manager revealed eight-year fraud after spotting $20,000 check had been paid for $10,000 bill
• His wife Kay, pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme earlier this year, was sentenced to five years probation and 100 hours community service
• She will also be required to send a letter of apology to the bakery. 

By Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 12:48 EST, 18 September 2015 | Updated: 01:03 EST, 19 September 2015

The controller of a Texas bakery famed for its fruit cake has been jailed for a decade after embezzling $17 million to fund a lavish lifestyle of mansions, private jets and exotic vacations.

Sandy Jenkins, 66, who earned $50,000 a year in his role a controller at the firm, used almost 900 company checks to pay his creditors for luxury goods, and then tampered with the accounts to try to cover his tracks.  

He and his wife, Kay, were both involved with the money laundering and spending up to $250,000-a-month, but incredibly, the disparity between Mr Jenkins' lifestyle and salary went unnoticed for eight years. 

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Lavish lifestyle: Kay and Sandy Jenkins, pictured on  a private jet, embezzled $17 million from the cake firm

Would you mind stepping outside, sir? Sandy Jenkins, center, talks to two FBI agents outside his neighbor's house, while his own property is searched in Corsicana in August last year

Target: Jenkins stole from the 117-year-old Collin Street Bakery where he was controller

Jenkins, the 65-year-old corporate controller for Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, was arrested in August last year, and charged with ten counts of mail fraud.

He was earning $50,000 a year but the FBI claims the couple were actually spending nearer to $250,000 a month.

Jenkins and his wife, Kay, spent so much at a local Neiman Marcus — $1.2 million, the U.S. Attorney said — that they each had a nickname.

Sandy was 'Fruitcake.' Kay was 'Cupcake.'

'Jenkins stopped shopping at Neiman Marcus when Neiman's ran out of things to sell them,'

Jenkins claimed they were paying for their extravagant lifestyle, which lasted from December 2004 until August 2012, through an inheritance.

During that time the couple spent $3.2 million on private jets to fly them to Aspen, Napa, Martha's Vineyard, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Investigators claim the couple used the funds to buy a vacation home in Santa Fe; several vehicles including a Mercedes and a Lexus; a Steinway piano, six firearms, furs, jewelry, art work and an extensive wine collection. conspired together to maintain an extensive and lavish lifestyle through expenditures of the money embezzled from the Bakery.'

Jenkins and his wife also managed to rack up $11 million in charges on their American Express cards, charging around $98.000 a month to the accounts.   

Home no more: The couple's luxury Corsicana house was handed over to the FBI and put on the market

Hayden Crawford, a partner at the 117-year-old bakery, said the company was shocked to learn of the fraud.

'When this was going down, our suspicions fell on everything except our own people. We are obviously far better at making a quality fruitcake than spotting a thief,' he said.

Jenkins purchased 38 vehicles during the course of the scheme, including many Lexus automobiles, a Mercedes Benz, a Bentley, and a Porsche.

According to evidence proffered at sentencing, Sandy Jenkins and Kay Jenkins purchased a new automobile every time they needed an oil change. 

Seized assets and cash totaling nearly $4 million will be turned over to Collin Street Bakery to be sold off.

Sandy Jenkins emotionally addressed the bakery's staff and owners in the courtroom, saying 'I betrayed you. I'm terribly sorry.'

His attorney, Brett Stalcup, called the case 'crazy' but said his client was apologetic, and got into a situation where he couldn't stop.

More than a dozen bakery employees, along with members of the controlling McNutt family, attended the hearing.

Wheels: A silver Mercedes-Benz CL500, similar to the one pictured, was handed over to the FBI by Jenkins

A GMC Yukon, similar to the one above, and BMW X53, like the one below, were among the cars taken from Jenkins

The fraud went undetected for so long because of the trusting nature of the bakery's owners and what has been described as an almost-foolproof scheme.

Tristed: Sandy Jenkins had worked at the bakery from 1998

The bakery spent a huge sum on nuts for its cakes, and postage for promotional material.

Large checks were allegedly written to the nut or postal companies, and then entered into the books without an invoice number.

The checks were then canceled and the accounts' entries unchanged, before fresh checks with an electronic signature were allegedly sent to Jenkins' account.

The chief executive of the bakery also never reviewed his checks.

FBI Special Agent Christine Edson said in an affidavit that the bakery's books had not been audited since Jenkins started with the company in 1998.

Hayden Crawford, a partner at the baker, told the Star Telegram: 'We have a family-owned, family-run business where trust is foundational.'

'We were blindsided,' she told the Associated Press in 2013. 'We were so focused on every other part of the business, and so confident in the integrity of our people, that we overlooked the elephant in the room.'

The amount taken was just enough to not damage profits at the bakery, so although senior management were aware money was going awry, they believed it was due to mismanagement or inventory theft.

It wasn't until former bank teller Semetric Williams joined the accounts department that the fraud was revealed.

Lavish: A Steinway piano, similar to the one pictured, was also taken from the couple

Extravagant: A stack of Louis Vuitton luggage and collection of watches including a Patek Philippe rose-gold time piece were also listed in the FBI report

In June she questioned Jenkins about some questionable entries, but when he brushed it off she went to senior management telling them she had uncovered a major embezzlement and feared for her life.

The unusual entry she had noted was a $20,000 check that appeared to have been written for a $10,000 postal bill.

After he was fired, Jenkins allegedly filled two Whole Foods grocery bags with jewelry, watches and $62,500 in cash.

The FBI says he tried to get his daughter to look after the bags, but when she refused they mysteriously disappeared.

A police officer later found 40lb of watches in jewelery in a Texas lake.

Appraisers for the FBI said it would cost $4.4 million to replace the couple's collection of jewelery, watches and designer goods.  

Tradition: The Collin Street Bakery was famed for its fruit cake and trusted employees

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