Illinois Woman Charged With Embezzling As Much As $200K In Pension Fraud Case

Tisa Crawford

Tisa Crawford, 41, of Aurora, Illinois, has been charged with theft over $10,000, wire fraud and computer fraud in connection to a pension fraud scheme that bilked Aon Hewitt out of at least $175,000 and as much as $200,000.  Over a period of about 3 years, beginning in 2009, Crawford is alleged to have created fictional retirees and fraudulently collected pension payments made to their accounts.

Read the story here, here and here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

California Woman Accused Of Embezzling $470K From Bookkeeping Clients

Paige Jones Hibbits, 69, recently of Camarillo, California, has been charged with embezzling at least $470,000 from several bookkeeping clients of her business, Jones Hibbits, LLC, including Scarborough Farms Inc. of Oxnard, California.  According to authorities, Hibbits has used a variety of aliases, including Pearl Hibbits, Pearl Klenoski, Pearl Jones, Paige Jones, and Pearl McClelland.  Prosecutors allege that Hibbits executed more than 50 fraudulent transactions, including fraudulent checks and electronic funds transfers for her own benefit over a 2 year period.  Specifically, Hibbits has been charged with felony counts including forgery, money laundering, grand theft, computer fraud and aggravated white collar crime.  Media reports indicate that Hibbits has previous a felony conviction in 2004 for embezzlement and forgery.  She was also arrested in 1990 for assault with a deadly weapon and spent time in state prison.  Ironically, Hibbits was named the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce's Woman of the Year in 2010.

Read the story here.

Alabama Couple Sentenced For $120K Embezzlement Scheme

Charles Allen Elliott, 38, and Carol Ann Elliott, 43, of Etowah County, Alabama, were each sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzled some $120,000 from DWP Construction where Charles Elliott worked as an IT consultant and Carol Elliott as a bookkeeper. The Elliotts pleaded guilty last December to charges of forgery and computer fraud in connection with an embezzlement scheme that spanned about 2 1/2 years, from June 2006 to January 2009. During that time, Carol Elliott forged company checks which they used for personal expenses. It was also alleged that Charles Elliott, in his capacity as IT consultant setting up the company network, provided Carol Elliott with user names and passwords for the business owners so she could monitor their activities and determine whether they had become suspicious of her fraudulent activities. The couple was also ordered to pay restitution of $133,000.

Read the story here and here.

Louisiana Bank Employee Charged With Embezzling $280K From Elderly Customer Accounts

Brandy Z. Rogers, 31, of New Iberia, Louisiana, has been arrested and charged with embezzling some $280,000 from elderly customer accounts at Teche Federal Bank where she had been employed as a customer service representative. Rogers allegedly siphoned monies from customer accounts over a period of several months. She has been charged with unauthorized use of an access card for theft, identity theft, theft of assets of an aged person, bank fraud, forgery, computer fraud and money laundering.

Read the story here and here.

Hat tip: Reader Joe.

Update (1/13/12): Rogers, now 32, pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling funds from Teche Federal Bank between what is now understood to be about 2 1/2 years, from June 2008 through January 2011.

Update (6/8/12): Rogers has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for embezzling what is now understood to be $387,321.45 in bank customer funds from Teche Federal Bank. 

Tennessee Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Nearly $100K From Municipality

Arnita M. Mitchell, 44, of Mason, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled $96,000 from the town of Mason, Tennessee where she had served as City Court Clerk in charge of cash collections, among other things. According to authorities, Mitchell pocketed cash receipts over a period of some 30 months. Mitchell, who was originally indicted in November 2009 on felony theft, forgery, computer fraud, theft of services, and official misconduct, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and ordered to pay full restitution. She will also be placed on probation for 8 years after her prison sentence.

Read the story here, here and here.

Read the indictment here.

California Man Convicted Of Embezzling $106K From Building Supply Company

Todd Martin Schoepflin, 36, of Simi Valley, California, who was convicted last month of embezzling nearly $106,000 from Stock Building Supply, where he had been employed for 11 years as a sales clerk, was sentenced yesterday to to a year in jail and five years of probation. According to prosecutors, Schoepflin stole cash receipts from retail purchases then hid the thefts by canceling the sales transactions in the company’s computer system. Authorities alleged that his thefts spanned a three year period between 2006 and 2009. Schoepflin was also ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $105,868.

Read the story here.

Read the DA's announcement here.

Update: Former California Law Firm Administrator Sentenced In $1.6 Million Embezzlement Case

Regina M. Schenck, 46, of Herald, California, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for embezzling $1,635,449.90 from the law firm of Diepenbrock Harrison in Sacramento, where she had been employed as an administrator. Schenck pleaded guilty last August to one count of computer fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. Prosecutors had alleged that starting in 1999 Schenck wrote law firm checks to pay her own bills, created false documents and lied to firm partners to get them to authorize checks she secretly used to buy horses and a horse trailer, among many other personal items.

Read FraudTalk's earlier posts on this story here and here.

Read the story here.

California Bookkeeper Charged In $245K Salon Embezzlement Case

Bethany Jane Brady, 43, of Newport Beach, California, has been charged with embezzling some $245,000 from the Hampton Salon where she had been employed as a bookkeeper. According to prosecutors, Brady started paying her utility and other personal bills in October 2006 by transferring funds from the Salon's accounts via PayPal. Specifically, Brady was charged on felony counts of grand theft, identity theft, computer fraud and money laundering. Prior to being hired directly by the salon, Brady reportedly handled bookkeeping for an outside accounting firm for 13 years. Brady faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted of all charges. Read the story here and here. Update (4/28/11): Brady was sentenced to 2 years in prison and must pay $250,000 in restitution. She pleaded guilty to one felony count of grand theft and one felony count of identity theft.

Update: Iowa Political Acitivits Pleads Not Guilty In $5.9 Million Embezzlement Case

Phyllis Stevens, 58, of Des Moines, Iowa, who is accused of embezzling more than $5.9 million from Aviva USA, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Stevens faces 18 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft which were handed down in an indictment last week. Stevens, pictured left, had been a 35 year employee of Aviva and its predecessor companies and was a well known political activist for same sex marriage and gay rights. She and her partner, Marla Stevens, pictured right, gave tens of thousands to Democrat candidates, PACs and causes, including Barack Obama. Some of these have quickly moved to return the funds. Stevens' embezzlement scheme lasted at least 4 years and involved more than 200 fraudulent transactions.

Read FraudTalk's original post on this story here.

Read the story here and here.

California Man Indicted For Embezzling $700K From Catholic Charity

Thom V. Randle, 68, of Chico, California, was indicted last week on charges he embezzled nearly $700,000 from the Columbian Retirement Home, a nonprofit retirement facility operated by the Knights of Columbus. Randle reportedly sat on the charity's board of directors and served as its vice president of finance. He has been indicted on multiple counts of mail fraud, computer fraud and money laundering charges. According to prosecutors, Randle opening bank accounts and used a computer to unlawfully transfer some $693,000 from the charity to accounts he controlled. The thefts occurred between 2004 and 2005, according to prosecutors. Randle operates his own estate and financial planning business called Randle & Associates, LLC. He faces a minimum of 20 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Read the story here, here and here.

Read the DOJ's announcement here.

Update (5/15/10): Randle, now 69, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of money laundering and one count of computer fraud in connection with the embezzlement of nearly $700,000 from the Colombian Retirement Home, a Catholic Charity run by the Knights of Columbus where he had served as vice president of finance.