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Former Keller Williams bookkeeper sentenced to 27 months for $500K embezzlement

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  June 18, 2025 7:33pm EDT
Georgia
FOX 5 Atlanta

The Brief

    • Lauren Williams Eldridge was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for embezzling nearly $500,000 from Keller Williams Realty River Cities to pay off her credit card debt.
    • Eldridge worked as a bookkeeper for nine years and admitted to wire fraud, making monthly payments from company accounts to her personal credit card between 2017 and 2022.
    • She was ordered to pay $453,876.64 in restitution and will have three years of supervised release following her prison term.

COLUMBUS, Ga. - A former bookkeeper for Keller Williams Realty River Cities has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison after admitting she embezzled nearly half a million dollars from the Columbus-based real estate brokerage to pay off her credit card debt.

What we know:

Lauren Williams Eldridge, 38, of Pine Mountain, was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Clay Land also ordered her to pay $453,876.64 in restitution. Eldridge previously pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud on Jan. 29. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court records, Eldridge worked as office manager and bookkeeper at Keller Williams for nine years. In October 2022, company officials discovered discrepancies in a business account and determined Eldridge had moved funds to other accounts. When confronted, she failed to provide a clear explanation and soon resigned.

In January 2023, law enforcement was notified. Investigators found that between January 2017 and September 2022, Eldridge had made monthly electronic payments from Keller Williams accounts totaling $453,876.68 to her personal American Express card. She admitted to the embezzlement in December 2022, telling company officials she initially planned to repay the money after charging $30,000 for home repairs.

The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Hostetler prosecuted the case.

What they're saying:

"For years, Eldridge used her company’s funds like her personal ATM," said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. "She will now have more than two years behind bars to consider the impact of her actions."

"The repercussions of employee theft are often felt beyond the prosecution, negatively affecting businesses, their customers and the community," said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker. "Fraud and theft will not be tolerated in the Middle District of Georgia."

The Source: The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Georgia provided the details for this article.

GeorgiaNewsCrime and Public Safety