Attorney General Hector Balderas

AG News:

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Thursday that a Fifth Judicial District Court judge sentenced Brian Casaus to 10 years of incarceration and Tammy Casaus to one year of incarceration.

The defendants, a married couple and former Cattle Baron employees, pled guilty to charges including racketeering, embezzlement, money laundering, and tax fraud. Both defendants will pay restitution to the Cattle Baron and to the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department.

“New Mexico businesses are already struggling during these uncertain times, and it is appalling to me that these defendants would blatantly steal from their employer to line their own pockets,” Attorney General Balderas said. 

Over a four-year period, the couple used their trusted positions to secretly divert more than $1 million from the restaurant for their own benefit. Brian Casaus controlled the restaurant’s payroll, used his position to direct business funds into the couple’s personal accounts, and crafted the transfers to look like ordinary paychecks.

Tammy Casaus helped her husband by concealing the nature of the stolen money with several bank accounts and by providing false information on tax documents.

The case was investigated by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Special Investigations Unit and was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Andrew Coffing and Mark Probasco.