Marjor Embezzlement Cases: July 1 - 7

Tabitha Caplinger, 41, and her husband, Jimmy Caplinger, 49, both of Bonham, Texas, have been charged with embezzling more than $200,000 from Fannin County Electric Co-Op where Tabitha had been employed as a pay clerk.  Authorities allege that Tabitha Caplinger's thefts spanned more than a 20 year period and that her husband was an accomplice in the fraud.  Developing...

Update (7/27/12): The Caplingers were both formally indicted on felony theft charges.
Update (5/3/13): Tabitha Caplinger plead guilty to felony embezzlement charges and was sentenced to seven years in state prison while her husband Jimmy Caplinger plead guilty to third degree theft and got 10 years probation.

Stephanie Kaye Cieslinski, 53, and her husband, Kenneth John Cieslinski, 54, both of Midland, Michigan, have been charged with embezzling nearly $1 million from local dentist Dr. Michael Smith for whom Stephanie had been employed for many years.  Kenneth Cieslinski, a corrections deputy at the Bay County Jail, is alleged to have played a part in the scheme by depositing funds into bank accounts the couple controlled.  Read the story and view their mugshots here.

Update (10/20/12): Stephanie Cieslinski was sentenced to 3 to 20 years in prison.  The thefts are believed to have spanned a period of at least 10 years.

Christina Heaven, 35, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, has been charged with embezzling more than $300,000 from PetFirst Healthcare, a pet insurance company, where she had been employed as an administrator.  Heaven allegedly used her boss's social security number to open a secret checking account in the PetFirst name in 2010 and then deposited checks into it from PetFirst customers totaling $314,723, withdrawing $293,703 for her own benefit.

Kimberly A. Gostomski, 39, now of Savannah, Georgia, pleaded no contest to six felony fraud counts related to her involvement in the embezzlement of more than $163,000 in client escrow funds entrusted to Patrick "Tim" McDonald, a former Rhode Island state senator and Narragansett Town Council member.  Gostomski was McDonald's secretary.  Specifically, Gostomski plead no contest to conspiracy, aiding and abetting the commission of a felony, larceny of more than $500, embezzlement of more than $100, obtaining more than $500 under false pretenses and forgery and counterfeiting.  McDonald faces six felony counts in his own criminal case.

Mawufemor Bierko, of Orange County, California, has been arrested in Wisconsin on suspicion he embezzled more than $100,000 from the Girl Scouts of Orange County.  Bierko reportedly did "some accounting work" for the Girl Scouts.  Read the story and view his mugshot here.  Developing...

Update (1/31/13): Bierko, now 35, and a former foreign exchange student from Ghana pleaded guilty to two felony counts of forgery in connection with the embezzlement of $102,479 from the Girl Scouts of Orange County.  The thefts reportedly spanned just over a year, from January 2010 through February 2011.  He was sentenced to 64 months in prison and ordered to pay full restitution.  Bierko was arrested in Wisconsin while attempting to flee the country to return to Ghana.

Debra J. Tanachion, 51, of Atwater, California, has been arrested and charged with embezzling more than $300,000 from Weimer Farms, where she had been employed as a bookkeeper. Tanachion, who had been employed by Weimer Farms since 1995, is suspected of siphoning funds since at least 2006.

Billy Cypress, believed to be 62, of West Miami-Dade, Florida and the former chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe, has been accused in a civil lawsuit of embezzling $26 million from the tribe and spending the money on numerous gambling trips, shopping sprees, real-estate investments and luxury cars.  Read the story and view Cypress' image here.

Aubrey Lee Price, 46, of Southern Georgia, has been charged with embezzling about $17 million from a bank where he had served as a director.  Price, who is being sought by authorities since he disappeared in June, had been entrusted by the bank to invest the funds on their behalf.  He has been charged with wire fraud in absentia.  Authorities are concerned that he may have fled to South America, where he has done mission work and built churches.  View Price's wanted poster here.  Read the complaint against Price here.  

Update 4/26/13: Note this looks more like an investment fraud scheme where Price has been accused of bilking investors out of $40 million and then disappearing.  He has been on the lam since June 16, 2012. 

James William Riley, 48, of Corona, California and Ryan Jay Robinson, 41, of Temecula, California, face trial for allegeldy misappropriating $4 million from the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.   Riley was an insurance broker with Riley, Garrison & Associates and Robinson was the tribe's former CFO.  According to authorities, the two conspired to divert insurance premium payments into their personal bank accounts.  Read the story and view Riley's mugshot here.

Update (12/5/12): Riley and Robinson's first trial ended deadlocked.