MINNEAPOLIS
The owner of Princess Soft Toys pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to defrauding a bank and some 13 individual investors and lenders out of more than $1.5 million.
Sandra Lee Calkins, 67, formerly of Eden Prairie, admitted to falsifying company financial statements to renew a $3.25 million line of credit at Central Bank. Calkins made a number of withdrawals totaling $3.75 million, and the bank lost about $1 million, according to her plea agreement.
Calkins also admitted to misleading 13 people who invested in her company or lent it money between January 2008 and 2010, leading to collective losses exceeding $562,000. She faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for bank fraud.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson will decide the sentence at a future hearing.
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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
