ST. LOUIS – A Franklin County woman committed pandemic loan fraud while awaiting sentencing in a six-figure embezzlement case, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Christen Schulte pleaded guilty on Aug. 3, 2020 to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of money laundering. She admitted to embezzling funds from her employer and other individuals associated with her employer. She then sought multiple delays in her sentencing.

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Schulte on May 27, 2021, to six years and eight months in prison and ordered to pay $517,140 in restitution in the embezzlement case. She was to start serving that sentence approximately three months later on Aug. 30.

However, the FBI learned Schulte had fraudulently applied for multiple Paycheck Protection Program loans in the months leading up to her sentencing.

Schulte was indicted in the new case on Nov. 10, 2021. She appeared in federal court on Wednesday and admitted that between March 22, 2021, and May 19, 2021, she applied for three loans and received two of them. She admitted lying on the loan applications when asked if she was facing or had been convicted of a felony, and also lied about the gross income for her business, Mama Bear Cake Company.

One application was rejected because of her criminal history. She was approved for two $13,566 loanes, the second of which she received on May 19, 2021.

Schulte pleaded guilty to three additional counts of bank fraud on Wednesday. She’ll be sentenced on Dec. 28 on these new charges. She faces up to 30 years on each count, plus an additional 10-year penalty for committing the crimes while on pre-trial release in the embezzlement case.