Former CEO Of Colorado Real Estate Concern Pleads Guilty To Embezzling More Than $400K From Association Members

From the Associated Press on 3/17/2015:

The Summit County district attorney says a woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $400,000 from a local real estate agents' association she had led for nearly two decades.

A statement Monday from District Attorney Bruce Brown's office added Sue Frank, the former chief executive officer of the Summit Association of Realtors, is scheduled to be sentenced May 19. She faces up to seven years in jail for felony theft.

Frank was arrested in December and accused of forging checks and making unauthorized transfers into her own account from the nonprofit association formed to support real estate agents with educational and other services.

Former Hospital Union Head In Alabama Accused Of Embezzling $132K

From Alabama Media Group on 3/12/2015:

The former president of the union for federal employees at Birmingham's Veterans Affairs hospital has been indicted on charges that she embezzled more than $132,000 in chapter funds.

Stephanie Hicks, 43, of Birmingham, was indicted on bank fraud, forgery and aggravated identity theft charges, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

"Union members elect officials to represent them and protect their interests," Vance said in a statement. "A labor union official who chooses, instead, to live the high life by stealing from local members has committed a crime and should prepare to go to prison."

According to the indictment, Hicks served as president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2207, AFL-CIO, at the hospital from July 2007 to July 2013. Dues collected from the chapter's 440 members were kept in two bank accounts, a general operating account and a legal fund account at Wachovia Bank, then Wells Fargo.

Hicks is accused of using her position as president to make unauthorized transactions from the accounts for her benefit, including writing checks for travel that didn't happen, forging the names of other officers and members, and making debit card purchases and cash withdrawals, according to the news release. She is also accused of covering up the expenses by not keeping records, in violation of federal laws and the local's constitution and bylaws, and didn't seek approval for the charges.

Hicks faces eight bank fraud, eight forged security and three aggravated identity theft counts.

She was indicted last month and the indictment was unsealed after her arrest Wednesday.

"This indictment is a testament to the excellent interagency cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Justice," said Monty Stokes, the special agent in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of the Inspector General. "As president of the local union, Hicks represented Local 2207, with more than 400 VA members. VA OIG will continue to pursue those that abuse their positions of trust and steal from innocent victims."

The Veterans Affairs OIG and the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards and OIG investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter is prosecuting it.

"OLMS aggressively investigates allegations of financial mismanagement by union officers," said Hollis Lindley Jr., the investigator with the Office of Labor-Management Standards. "Union members have an expectation that their elected officers are using the union funds for legitimate union purposes. This particular case was severe in the amount of money stolen and in the degree of concealment."

Scandals at the Central Alabama Veterans Healthcare Systems led to James Talton, the system's director, being removed from his position last year.

Michigan Man Is Sentenced For Embezzling $1 Million From Insurance Agency

From WSJM-FM 94.9 on 3/11/2015:

Embezzlement, uttering and publishing and forgery are landing a 45-year-old St. Joseph man in prison for up to 20 years. John Page was sentenced this week in Battle Creek for stealing roughly $1 million from the Worgess Insurance Agency in the Cereal City, where he had been the firm's president. He took the money between December 2008 and last May, and said he was doing it in an attempt to save the company from financial ruin. Worgess is covering the losses through insurance and no clients suffered any losses. The firm's vice president, Jacob Worgess, disagreed with Page's contention that he was trying to save the company, as did Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert, who called it "greed and greed alone." Page was sentenced to a term of between five and 20 years behind bars.

Michigan Woman Accused Of Embezzling As Much As $500K

From the Grand Haven Tribune on 3/11/2015:

Jodi Lynn Kotrch, 47, is facing charges of embezzlement of more than $100,000, forgery, and uttering and publishing.

Meanwhile, her husband was arrested on a probation violation charge out of Berrien County.
A lawsuit filed in October 2014 claims Jodi Kotrch stole more than $500,000 from Magnum Outdoor LLC of Nunica, for whom she did accounting work.

“We believe she used her relationship with the company to convert funds for her personal use,” said Capt. Mark Bennett of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department. “She could have been responsible for up to $500,000 in funds taken between 2011 and 2014.”

Although Jodi Kotrch’s husband has not been charged in the embezzlement case, the lawsuit claims that Scott David Kotrch “assisted and conspired” with his wife “by selecting the vehicles, snowmobiles, boat and other personal property to be purchased with plaintiff’s funds.” It also claims that Scott Kotrch was aware that his wife was converting property that belonged to Magnum Outdoor LLC, and much of that property was titled solely in his name.

Bennett said police are still investigating the case and it is possible that there will be more charges.
Jodi Kotrch turned herself in to authorities at the Ottawa County Courthouse last week after a warrant was issued for her arrest. According to court records, she posted a $5,000/10 percent bond and is free pending her next court hearing, currently scheduled for March 17.

Scott Kotrch, 51, was originally charged with possession of a controlled substance (schedule 1 or 2 narcotic), according to Berrien County Prosecutor Mike Sepic. Kotrch was sentenced in April 2014 to two days in jail and one year of probation.

Sepic would not comment on what Scott Kotrch — who was on “jail hold” in Ottawa County before being transferred to Berrien County — may have done to violate his probation. Sepic said arraignment on the probation violation would likely happen within a day after Kotrch arrived in Berrien County.

Lawsuit status

The lawsuit claims that Jodi Kotrch used Magnum Outdoor LLC funds to purchase vehicles and pay off her husband’s credit card, joint credit cards, their mortgage payments and landscapers.

It claims the fraud was discovered after she bought a $200 steak with the company credit card.

On Oct. 13, 2014, an Ottawa County judge signed a temporary restraining order “enjoining the defendants from disposing of assets.”

Subsequent motions note that the Kotrches sold some of the vehicles that were named on a list and requested a show-cause hearing as to why they should not be charged with contempt for disregarding the court order.

The show-cause hearing was scheduled for March 2, but was rescheduled for a later date.
In a previous story, attorneys for both sides in the lawsuit said they were continuing to work toward a resolution and would not offer further comment.

Court records show that Jodi Kotrch filed for divorce from her husband in February.

Former Treasurer Of Local Elementary School PTO In Indiana Accused Of Embezzling $120K

From the Indianapolis Star on 3/6/2015:

The PTO treasurer at Fortville Elementary School has been asked to step aside as the organization launches an investigation into its finances.

The former treasurer, 39-year-old Marcy Smitley, is accused of stealing more than $120,000 from a homeowners association she managed on the south side of Indianapolis. Smitley faces 21 felony counts, including theft and forgery, Fox59 reports.

She's also served as PTO treasurer for two school years, according to the PTO president. However, the district said they've seen no signs of theft from the PTO account.

"My reaction was just amazement. I was shocked," said William Riggs, superintendent of the Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation. "She's done a good job of being a volunteer."

Riggs said the district got tipped off by a local paper.

Marion County prosecutors said Smitley took approximately $127,983 from the homeowners association at the Windslow Crossing condominium complex on the south side from 2009 to 2014. Smitley was working as a manager of that HOA, collecting dues, paying bills, and getting bids for various jobs on the property, according to a board member.

Investigators said she wrote unauthorized checks to her own management company. By May of last year, HOA leaders were suspicious and found the alleged fraud.

Smitley was booked in jail and bonded out last week. That's when the school got wind of the charges.
"That's something that they'll go through their receipts and their revenues and take a look at, but there's nothing I'm aware of that's inappropriate at this point," said Riggs.

Riggs said PTO funds are separate from school funds. The accounts typically don't carry large balances, no more than $5,000, and money from fundraisers is quickly reinvested in the school.
Still, PTO President Mary Jo Adams told us by phone that they are reviewing every transaction to make sure no money in their account is missing. She anticipates their preliminary investigation will be complete next week.

We went to Smitley's home for comment, but nobody answered the door.

Former Firefighter In Virginia Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $109K From Union

From the Suffolk News-Herald on 3/5/2015:

A former Suffolk firefighter pleaded guilty on Thursday to embezzlement and forgery in a scheme that stole about $109,000 from the local firefighters’ union.

Sheron Alen Gibson Sr., 41, faced 12 counts of embezzlement in addition to the forgery charge but pleaded guilty to only one count each of embezzlement and forgery as part of a plea agreement.

Gibson was secretary/treasurer of the Local 2801 of the International Association of Fire Fighters from 2008 to 2013, according to evidence presented in court by prosecutor Marilyn Sallee.

On Feb. 24, 2014, president Travis Peirce was notified that a check made payable to the Muscular Dystrophy Association had been returned for insufficient funds. The firefighters do a fundraiser for the MDA every year, and the check that was returned was for the proceeds of the fundraiser, Sallee said in court.

That was the first indication that there was a problem with the union’s bank accounts, Sallee said. Peirce contacted law enforcement.

A forensic accountant found that 67 checks payable to Gibson, none of which had been authorized by the union, had been written on the account. As his was a volunteer position, “No check at all should have been made payable to the defendant,” Sallee said in court.

In addition, a debit card was used to pay recurring monthly bills for accounts the union never opened. The debit card in itself was not authorized, Sallee said.

The account also was being used to pay vendors for Gibson’s business, Virginia Fire Extinguishers Inc., which sells and services fire extinguishers and other workplace safety products.

Sallee said yearly audits on the union’s account were not being performed as required. One purported audit, dated in 2012, appeared to have been done by a legitimate auditor who had worked with the union previously, but it turned out to be a forgery, including the business’s letterhead and the signature on the report.

When Peirce confronted Gibson about the missing money, Sallee said, Gibson admitted to Peirce he had stolen more than $90,000.

Sallee said full restitution has been made to the union.

Gibson declined comment as he left the courtroom on Thursday morning.

Gibson was named Firefighter of the Year in 2009. He served as a firefighter and medic. At the time of the Firefighter of the Year award, he taught emergency medical courses to fire department personnel and worked as an emergency care technician at Sentara Obici Hospital. He served in the U.S. Navy Reserves for four years.

A sentencing date is set for May 21. The other 11 charges of embezzlement were not prosecuted as part of the plea agreement

Colorado Woman Charged With Embezzling At Least $150K From Computer Graphics Company

From NBC 9News on 2/26/2015:

A woman has been charged for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from her employer.

Kristie Marx, 44, was charged with computer crime, two counts of theft and two counts of forgery.
Marx is accused of stealing more than $150,000 from Blue Moon Works, a computer graphics company she worked for.

Through several schemes, she allegedly charged personal items to a company credit card, gave herself an unauthorized pay raise, manipulated state and federal withholding taxes, wrote herself checks from the company account and added herself and her dependents to the company health insurance plan.

Marx was arrested last week and formally advised of her charges Wednesday. She is in custody on a $10,000 bond.

Marx will appear in court April 13 for a preliminary hearing.

Iowa Man Expected To Plead Guilty Today To Charges He Embezzled $365K From Local Excavation Company

From The Gazette on 2/5/2015:

A former controller of a Dubuque excavating company will plead guilty Friday in federal court to embezzling over $360,000 from the company.

Michael Schute, who worked at Tschiggfrie Excavating from 1988 to 2013, will plead guilty to one count each of wire fraud and filing a false tax return, according to the plea agreement. Schute, who was responsible for the daily cash flow and had authority to write checks for the company, is accused of embezzling money from the company from 2008 to 2013.

According to the plea, Schute wrote company checks to pay for his personal credit card bills. He falsified ledgers to make it appear that the funds were used for company expenses to conceal his scheme.

Management at Tschiggfrie discovered the fraud in April 2013, after finding discrepancies in the expenditures reflected on the books, according to the plea. Schute confessed to the embezzlement during a phone conversation with one of the owners of Tschiggfrie. He was fired after the call.

Schute is accused of stealing about $365,417 over the five years, according to the plea agreement. During this same time period, he filed false tax returns because he failed to declare the money he embezzled. If Schute would have filed all taxable income, it would have resulted in additional taxes owed on about $86,347.

According to the plea agreement, Schute also will be required to pay full restitution to victims.
Schute faces up to 23 years in prison and up to a $500,000 in fines for both charges.

Idaho Man Sent To Prison For Embezzling $146K From Dairy - Had Prior History Of Financial Frauds

From the Magic Valley News Times on 1/28/2015:

A judge made good on his word Monday and sent Scott Yore to prison....

Read the story here.


Note: Yore was originally charged in July 2014 per KMVT-TV:

Twin Falls, Idaho ( KMVT-TV / KSVT-TV ) A local man is being charged with 30 counts of felony grand theft.

According to court records, 49 year old Scott Yore forged 30 checks worth more than 146 thousand dollars to his name.

Yore was the Chief Financial Officer for J and C Customs, where he allegedly signed the checks under the name John Gomez.

Gomez owns J and C Customs and G and H Dairy.

Yore was fired in January of this year due to poor performance.

The current book keeper noticed inconsistencies which led to the discovery of the theft.

The forged checks date back to June of 2013.

Michigan Man Pleads Guilty In $625K Embezzlement Case

From the Battle Creek Enquirer on 1/12/2015:

A man who took more than a half-million dollars from a Battle Creek insurance agency faces a prison sentence after pleading guilty Monday.

John Page, 44, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty to charges of embezzlement, forgery and uttering and publishing between December 2008 and May 2014 when he was former president of the Worgess Insurance Agency at 2 W. Michigan Ave.

He faces up to 20 years in prison but Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert estimated he will serve a minimum of five years under Michigan’s sentencing guidelines.

Page entered his guilty pleas after appearing with his attorney, John Gardiner of Kalamazoo, for a preliminary examination before Calhoun County District Judge Frank Line. Line sat as a circuit court judge to accept the pleas but Page will be sentenced later by a circuit judge. No date for that sentencing was set Monday.

Prosecutors have alleged that Page took money from the agency and also applied for loans for premium payments from other financial institutions.

They alleged he stole about $625,000 during those 5¹/₂ years. He had been employed at the agency since 1991.

Several Worgess executives were in the courtroom and vice president Jacob Worgess said later that watching the plea was “kind of a mixture of sadness and relief.”

He said he watched an associate for 15 years enter a guilty plea.

...

Read the whole story here.


Update (3/9/2015): Page was sentenced to 20 years.  Read the update here.

Illinois Woman Indicted In $150 Embezzlement Conspiracy Against Walgreens

From the Deerfield Review on 1/8/2015:

Three women were indicted by a Lake County grand jury Wednesday, Jan. 7, for embezzling approximately $150,000 from Walgreens, authorities said.

Charisma Farrow-Smith, 33, of Hoffman Estates, was charged with two counts of theft, which is a Class 1 felony, and two counts of forgery, a Class 3 felony. Deerfield Police Sgt. Greg Hury said she created false invoices while working at the Walgreens corporate campus in Deerfield.

“She learned their invoice system, created three false companies and created invoices,” Hury said. “She labeled her compatriots as vendors on the invoice and they would cash the checks.”

Those payments totaled the approximately $150,000.

The checks went to Silverine Smith, 31, of Chicago, and Luciana Cardona, 38, of Carpentersville, both of whom cashed the checks, Hury said. They were charged with three counts of theft each, a Class 2 felony. Smith and Cardona, who could serve between nine and 21 years in prison if convicted on all counts, remain at large, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office.

Farrow-Smith began working at Walgreens in early 2012 and left in August 2013, according to Hury. He said her activity came to the attention of the asset protection manager when proper tax forms could not be found and it could not be determined who received the money. The company contacted the Deerfield police and an investigation was conducted.

Farrow-Smith, who is free on a $50,000 bond, will be arraigned before Lake County Criminal Court Judge James Booras Jan. 22 in Lake County Criminal Court in Waukegan.

If convicted on all counts, Farrow-Smith could face between 12 and 40 years in jail, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Read the whole story here.

Massachusetts Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $350K From Condo Association

From WickedLocal.com on 12/19/2014:

A Waltham woman admitted over the summer to embezzling about $350,000 from a condominium complex, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. Lesley A. Correa pleaded guilty to three counts of larceny over $250 in connection with embezzling $350,000 from the Glen Meadow Condominium Association, which runs the Glen Meadow condo complex in Waltham, according to the DA’s office. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Sandra Hamlin, on Sept. 24, sentenced Correa to one to four years of probation, the DA’s office said. The judge also barred Correa from working in the financial field and from handling money in a work setting. In addition, probation officers must approve any of Correa’s future jobs. The judge also ordered Correa to continue mental health counseling. Correa was ordered to pay $367,338 in restitution, the DA’s office said. A jury found Preston Correa, Lesley’s ex-husband and the complex’s superintendent, not guilty of three counts of larceny over $250 in connection with Lesley’s crimes, according to the DA’s office. The jury returned its verdict on Sept. 30. The DA charged Preston in August 2012 with helping Lesley steal from the association. Specifically, prosecutors alleged Preston signed several checks for contracting work, but the work was never performed. The checks were meant to cover the embezzlement, according to the DA’s office. Lesley Correa was originally charged in August 2012. Investigators said Correa began stealing from the association in June 2010. In August 2011, Correa started delaying giving financial records to the association’s accountant. The accountant later discovered charges had been made to the accounts to pay for things not associated with the association. Correa used association money to pay utility bills, cable television bills and expenses for family members, according to the DA’s office. Correa allegedly used PayPal to divert association money and use it at restaurants, jewelry stores and gas stations, beauty shops, massages and a trip to Mohegan Sun casino. She also allegedly used the funds to pay for trips to California and West Virginia. The condo association fired both Lesley and Preston Correa in January 2012.

Texas Man Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $1.7 Million; Spends Loot On Strippers, Escorts & Gambling

From the San Antonio Express-News  on 12/17/2014:

Of the $1.7 million that Bexar Waste employee Michael Dennehy embezzled from the company, most of it went to escorts and gambling, he admitted Wednesday in federal court.

His admission appears to have set the unofficial record in San Antonio held by defendants who spent ill-gotten gains on prostitutes or strippers, some observers have noted. Dennehy, 41, pleaded guilty to a single count of bank fraud, admitting that he forged numerous company checks over six years.

Defense attorney Alan Brown said his client, who is married with five children, succumbed to urges he could not control.

“He did spend it on gambling and on escort services, as the (feds) allege,” Brown said. “I think those are big addictions. He feels remorse and wants to make amends for it.”

Confronted with forged checks and explicit images of his torrid encounters, Dennehy agreed to plead guilty before the FBI and federal prosecutors took his case to a grand jury for indictment, records show. He faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison when Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra sentences him March 9.

An FBI affidavit said Bexar Waste hired Dennehy in 2004 as a truck stocker and recycler. In 2008, he was promoted to a position managing accounts payable and began writing checks to himself of $1,200 to $1,800, depositing them into his personal bank accounts, the affidavit said. He also wrote company checks to pay his American Express bills and began stealing larger amounts of money as time went on, the affidavit said.

He used a stamp to forge authorized signatures on the checks and changed the name of the payees in QuickBooks to conceal that the money had gone to him, the affidavit said. The fraud was not detected until this past August, the affidavit said.

Dennehy’s spending spree eclipsed that of Todd C. Seward, who pleaded guilty Nov. 19 to bank fraud and identity theft and admitted that he spent most of the $400,000 he embezzled from a former employer on strippers.

...

Read the whole story here.

Update (12/21/2014): Most of the $1.7 million spent on gambling, according to court testimony.  Read the update here.

Suspect In $209K Embezzlement In Connecticut Has Prior Conviction For Fraud

From The Hour on 12/11/2014:

A Stratford woman, accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Norwalk plastic surgeon, was previously convicted of embezzlement in California, according to statements made during her arraignment Thursday at Norwalk Superior Court.

Gloria Lavae Tamayo, 43, of Stratford, served 30 days in jail and was also placed on probation after being convicted in 1997 of embezzlement. She was arraigned Thursday on new allegations of first-degree larceny, third-degree forgery and identity theft. Judge William Wenzel kept Tamayo’s $239,000 cash only bond in place and transfered her case to the Part A docket at Stamford Superior Court, where high class felony cases are adjudicated. Wenzel set the bond without prejudice, so that it can be reargued when Tamayo appears in Stamford court Dec. 19.

The victim in the case, Dr. Laurence Kirwan, is a plastic surgeon who has offices in Norwalk, New York City and London. He has performed surgical work on British television celebrities. He has also performed extensive charity work for Americares and UNICEF.

The investigation that led to Tamayo’s arrest began in August when Kirwin noticed irregularities in his office’s bookkeeping, police said. The bookkeeping irregularities came to the attention of Kirwan when the doctor combed through his finances in order to produce an accurate financial affidavit in divorce court, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Tamayo was terminated with cause on Aug. 27, court documents show. She had taken numerous work days off due to mental health issues, and Kirwan believed her embezzlement led to the issues, court documents show.

“She was always complaining that the business, Dr. K. Services P.C., had no money,” Kirwan wrote in a statement to police. “I was delinquent with my business mortgage and discovered after she was terminated that all my credit card accounts were maxed out with no available credit and that our vendor accounts were all overdue and frozen. I think that a lot of her anxiety was based on the fact that she could no longer hide her theft of corporate funds, because we had run out of working capital.”

Detective William Maloney, a certified fraud investigator, assumed the investigation and pored through the financial bookkeeping at Kirwan’s East Avenue office in Norwalk.

Maloney learned that Tamayo, the office’s bookkeeper, had been writing unauthorized checks to herself since 2010 and disguising the unauthorized checks as payments to vendors, police said. Through this method, Tamayo embezzled at least $209,075, according to police.
Tamayo was arrested at her Stratford home on Wednesday.

Read the whole story here.

California Woman Charged With Embezzling $175K From Local Concern

From The Record on 12/11/2014:

A 48-year-old Burson woman was arraigned Thursday in San Joaquin County Superior Court for allegedly embezzling thousands of dollars from a Stockton company.

Larissa Helen Jacquez, a bookkeeper, was booked into San Joaquin County Jail Wednesday on charges of grand theft, embezzlement, uttering a fictitious check and various other charges. She was transported to the Stockton courthouse Thursday to make her first court appearance.

Prosecutors say Jacquez was working at California Materials when she falsified company checks and direct deposit transactions to pay herself between 2011 and 2014.

According to search warrant records, Jacquez suddenly stopped showing up to work and sent an email to the company in November saying by the time her email is read she will be in Australia. She apologized for not giving notice.

In her absence, another bookkeeper filled in for Jacquez, court records say. The new bookkeeper discovered discrepancies in the accounting system.

Jacquez is alleged to have issued 70 checks payable to herself; she added a fictitious name to the payroll system for direct deposit; and she made invoices to fake vendors. The company’s total loss is about $175,000, authorities said.

Jacquez’s whereabouts were not known since she had stopped showing up to work until her arrest Wednesday. She is being held at San Joaquin County Jail in lieu of $230,000 bail.

...

Read the whole story here.

Idaho Man Charged With Embezzling $1.6 Million From Potato Farming Concern

From the Idaho Statesman on 12/6/2014:

Police say Russell C. Leonardson stole $1.6 million over several years from his Aberdeen employer, potato company Idaho Select Inc. The Eastern Idaho man is charged with two counts of grand theft and more than 50 counts of forgery, according to a Bingham County Sheriff's Office press release.
The release, posted on the Idaho State Journal's website, says Leonardson was arrested Friday morning after a warrant was issued. Leonardson called police to notify them he would turn himself in.

"The detectives division has been investigating this case for the past several months," the press release said. "The detectives division has information [about embezzlement] going back seven years, but the statute of limitations only allows us to charge for the past five years."
Leonardson is scheduled for arraignment Monday.

________

Read an update of this story here: http://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/details-revealed-in-m-embezzlement-case/article_11733bf0-8e71-11e4-a0f0-efa84e8ecbfe.html


Update (3/19/2015): Leonardson waived his right to his initial hearing.  Read the story here.

Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $375K

From KOAM Ch. 7 on 12/5/2014:

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Nevada, Mo., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to a bank fraud scheme in which she embezzled from her employer.

Patricia Culbertson, 53, of Nevada, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges her with bank fraud and filing a false tax return.

Culbertson worked for Barrington Manufacturing Corporation as a book keeper from June 2009 until she was suspended on June 24, 2014.

By pleading guilty today, Culbertson admitted that she forged the company owner's signature on checks from the company's bank account without authorization in order to cover her gambling debts and for other personal expenses. The checks were either deposited into Culbertson's personal bank account, the bank accounts of her mother and son, or the bank account of her company, PC Tech. After reviewing all of the account records, agents were able to determine that approximately $374,943 had been fraudulently withdrawn from Barrington's bank account.

Culbertson also admitted that she failed to report this embezzled income on her federal income tax returns for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Culbertson's actions resulted in a total tax loss to the federal government (without penalties and interest) of $72,246. The total tax loss to the state of Missouri (without penalties and interest) was $17,352.

...

Read the whole story here.

County Official In Mississippi Indicted In $300K Embezzlement Conspiracy Case

From WTVA on 12/4/2014:

CORINTH, Miss. (WTVA) -- Five people, including an Alcorn County supervisor and the purchasing clerk, have been indicted in connection with an investigation into the embezzlement of county taxpayer money.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering announced 259 indictments had been handed down in connection with the year-long investigation into the case.

District Two Supervisor Jimmy Nelms, 47, of Glen faces 156 counts, including embezzlement and forgery.

Pickering says Nelms is accused of creating a scheme to collect payments from county vendors in exchange for getting county business.

He is also accused of billing the county for work that was never performed and rental equipment that was never actually rented.

Nelms is also accused of using fraudulent bidders to drive up the price of equipment bought by the county and using the county charge accounts to buy items for his home.

Pickering has issued a demand for Nelms to repay over $300,000 to the county, and he faces 600 years in prison if convicted.

Purchasing Clerk William Paul Rhodes, 55, of Corinth faces a 13 count indictment in connection with the investigation and has been asked to repay over $77,000 to the county. 

He faces 60 years in prison if convicted.

Jimmy Ray Mitchell, 43, of Corinth, Joseph Lin McNair, Jr. 39, of Glen and Danny Roy Peters, 61, of Corinth also face multiple indictments in connection with the investigation.

The three are county vendors and face 150 years in prison if convicted.

Former Studio Finance Manager In California Sentenced To 2 Years For Embezzling $2.5 Million

From the Santa Clara Valley Signal on 11/6/2014:

A former finance manager of a television production studio was sentenced this morning to two years in federal prison for embezzling approximately $2.5 million from the Culver City company.
Nolan Mitchell Ransdell, 41, of Canyon Country, was sentenced by United States District Judge George Wu. In addition to the prison term, Judge Wu ordered Ransdell to pay $2,458,589 in restitution.

Ransdell previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud and admitted that he stole money from his employer, Studio Lambert USA, which is now known as All3Media America. Ransdell embezzled the money in several ways, including forging an executive’s signature on checks Ransdell had made out to himself. Ransdell also took checks that the executive had pre-signed for “emergency” use and made himself the payee.

In addition, Ransdell made checks payable to a subordinate, and then instructed that employee to cash the checks and return the money to him. Ransdell also made unauthorized cash withdrawals from Studio Lambert’s bank accounts.

Studio Lambert USA, a subsidiary of a British studio, produced television shows for distribution in the United States, including Undercover Boss.

Studio Lambert’s parent company noticed that the accounting for the production accounts was not consistent with the accounting for the corporate accounts.

When asked to explain the differences, Ransdell made up excuses, for instance, saying that discrepancies were the result of payment delays in connection with prepaid debit cards.
...

Read the whole story here.

Washington State Woman Charged With Embezzling $100K From Mining Concern

From The Daily News on 10/31/2014:

A Longview woman has been accused of embezzling more than $100,000 and forging numerous checks from the bank accounts of her former business partner and their mining company.
Angeline Danielle Bredfield, 40, has been charged with one count of first-degree theft, one count of first-degree identity theft and 32 counts of forgery in Cowlitz County Superior Court, according to documents. County deputies arrested Bredfield Wednesday.

Bredfield’s business partner and alleged ex-boyfriend, Longview doctor Vladimir Bogin, reported embezzlement from the couple’s company, Cromos Mining and Crushing, LLC. in April, according to court documents filed by Longview police. Bogin said she deceived him about selling company equipment, funneled just over $100,000 from a company account to her own bank account, used a company bank card without authorization and forged nearly $40,000 of checks from his personal account.

According to the documents, Bogin showed police bank records indicating that, in Oct. 2011, Bredfield transferred the embezzled funds from a Cromos Mining account to a friend’s bank account. In interviews, the friend said Bredfield told her that she would be out of town and needed to pay a bill.

The friend told police she was surprised when a large sum of money showed up in her account. She returned most the money to Bredfield but was allowed to keep $2,000 for her trouble, according to documents.

Between March 2011 and December 2012, Bredfield allegedly forged 32 checks against Bogin’s account. Several of the checks listed Bredfield as the payee, according to documents. Some of the other checks were allegedly written to Bredfield’s house cleaner and a man who took Bredfield’s son to a motorcycle race.

In 2013, Bredfield allegedly made more than 100 transactions with a Cromos Mining bank card Bogin thought had been cancelled during bankruptcy proceedings. Bogin said he hadn’t been making payments on the bank card, but believes Bredfield made payments with an unauthorized business check.