AG: Woman embezzled more than $400,000 from Lansing auto dealership over 3 years

A woman who worked at a Lansing automotive dealership embezzled more than $400,000 from the business over a three-year period and used at least some of the money to gamble with her husband, authorities said.

Amanda Root, 41, was ordered Friday to stand trial on four felony embezzlement counts and four counts of filing a false tax return, the state Attorney General's Office said.

Her husband, Justin Root, 46, was ordered to stand trial on four counts of making a false tax return, it said.

Amanda Root was working in accounts receivable and accounts payable at Glenn Buege Buick GMC when she embezzled more than $400,000 from 2016 and 2019, the AG's office said. She and her husband "primarily" used the money to gamble, and neither spouse claimed the additional income on their taxes, officials said.

Michigan State Police and the state Department of Treasury collaborated in the investigation, they said.

An attorney for Amanda Root did not immediately return a phone message left for him by the State Journal on Monday.

Brian Morley, an attorney for Justin Root, said his client knew nothing of his wife embezzling from the dealership and maintains his innocence.

"This came out of left field," Morley said, adding that witnesses who testified in a preliminary examination last week said there was no indication Justin Root was involved in any embezzlement.

"He's only charged with false tax returns," Morley said. "The factual question becomes, did Mr. Root know or should he have known that his tax returns were under-reported. I don't think that could be shown."

Morley noted that the probable-cause standard of proof in a preliminary exam is lower than in circuit court, where allegations must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lansing District Judge Cynthia Ward conducted the exam last week, Morley said.

The most serious charge against Amanda Root − embezzling $100,000 or more − carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to three times the value of the embezzlement upon conviction.

Under Michigan law, anyone who makes a false tax return with the intent to defraud can be guilty of a felony carrying a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison upon conviction.

The former Glenn Buege dealership in Lansing is now owned by the LaFontaine Automotive Group.

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Attorney General: Woman embezzled more than $400,000 from Lansing auto dealership