Former California Resident Arrested For Embezzling $100K From Restaurant

Michelle Marie Mendizabal, 38, recently of Lake Elsinore, California has been arrested in Arizona and is awaiting extradition on charges she embezzled more than $100,000 from Tom’s Farms Old Fashioned Hamburgers where she had been employed as manager.  The misappropriations spanned as long as 8 years, according to authorities.  Mendizabal reportedly fled to Arizona to avoid prosecution in October.

Read the story here and here.

Read the Sheriff's release here.

Update (6/30/12): Mendizabal has pleaded guilty to embezzling what is now understood to be more than $200,000 from Tom’s Farms Old Fashioned Hamburgers. 

Church Secretary In Wisconsin Charged With Embezzling $217K

Darlene Vodvarka, 57, of Oak Creek, Wisconsin has been charged with embezzling $217,483 from the St. Matthew Catholic Church where she had served as church secretary.  Authorities allege that over a 7 year period, from June 2004 through June 2011, Vodvarka took cash and check receipts from proceeds generated from "scrip" sales - gift cards and the like.  Authorities also allege that Vodvarka attempted to conceal the fraud by falsifying the church's books.  Specifically, Vodvarka has been charged with two counts of felony theft of more than $10,000.  She had been church secretary for 14 years.

Read the story here, here and here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

Update (3/1/12): Vodvarka is now being sued in civil court by St. Matthew Catholic Church of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, along with her husband, Edward Vodvarka, alleging fraud, theft, conversion and unjust enrichment.  The suit is seeking recovery of what the church alleges is more than $400,000.  The embezzlement is now believed to date back to at least 2000.  Vodvarka plead guilty last month in the criminal case and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 20, 2012.

Update (3/20/12): Vodvarka has been sentenced to 3 years in prison after pleading guilty last month to two charges of felony theft.

California Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $100K From Dental Office

Deborah Lynn Kessler, 45, of Canyon Lake, California has pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled more than $100,000 from Todd Engel's dentistry office for which she had been employed as office manager.  Kessler is believed to have forged dental insurance payment checks received by the practice for her own benefit.  She was originally charged with suspicion of forgery and grand theft.

Read the story here and here.

Michigan Man Accused Of Embezzling Nearly $1 Million

Ralph Edward Staelgraeve, 45, of Conway Township, Michigan, has been accused of embezzling nearly $1 million from Pasta Per Trio where he had been employed as director of Michigan operations.  Authorities allege that Staelgraeve siphoned funds from the company by cashing rebate checks, among other schemes.  Staelgraeve allegedly spent more than $300,000 at the casino.  An investigation has been proceeding for the past 2 years which is purported to prove that Staelgraeve stole at least $700,000, although the sum is believed to be closer to $1 million.

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Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year!

Federal Grand Jury Considering Indictment In $500K Embezzlement In Vermont

A federal grand jury is considering an indictment in an alleged $500,000 embezzlement case involving Brault’s Mobile Homes Inc., which reported the case to authorities last spring.  No indictment has been issued and a suspect has not yet been publicly disclosed.  This is yet another major embezzlement case in Vermont which has been plagued by a series of these frauds in the past several years, in spite of its relatively small population and economy. 

Read the story here.

Read this article in the Burlington Free Press entitled, Private firms, auditors watching, but not seeing" with regard to the spate of embezzlement cases in Vermont in recent years.

FraudTalk has chronicled 14 major embezzlement cases in Vermont in the past 2 1/2 years.

California Woman Charged With Embezzling More Than $100K From Nuns

Linda Gomez, 65, of Sunnyvale, California, has been charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from the Sisters of the Holy Names Convent where she had been employed as food services director.  According to authorities, over a period of about 2 1/2 years, from March 2008 through May 2010, Gomez used convent credit cards to make personal purchases of goods, some of which she returned for cash refunds. 

Read the story here.

Alabama Man Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Nearly $100K From Union

Graven LeeVon Townsend, 51, of Millbrook, Alabama has pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly $100,000 from the Steelworkers Local 462 where he had served as secretary-treasurer.  According to authorities, over a period of about 3 years, from 2006 until September 2009, Townsend wrote at least 149 checks totaling $98,970 from the union payable to himself or to cash for his own benefit.

Read the story here and here.

Connecticut Woman Pleads Guity To Embezzling More Than $1.5 Million

Joanne Topolski Osmolik, 51, of Newtown, Connecticut, has pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled more than $1.5 million from Latex International, where she had been employed as vice president for human resources.  According to prosecutors, Osmolik and a co-worker used corporate credit cards for personal expenditures over an unspecified period of time, then covered it up with fraudulent expense reports.  As part of her plea agreement, Osmolik must forfeit her stake in three residential properties in Vermont, six motorcycles, four snowmobiles and jewelry.  She is due to be sentenced in March 2012.  Osmolik had been employed by Latex International for six years in various HR capacities, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

Read the story here and here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

Update (2/29/12): Former Latex International CEO Kevin Coleman, 51, pleaded guilty to charges he embezzlement more than $1.7 million from the company over a period of 5 years, from November 2005 through December 2010.  Coleman and Osmolik apparently colluded to fleece the company in a brazen manner.  Coleman reportedly used some of the ill-gotten gains to buy diamonds and Harley-Davidson paraphernalia.

Update (4/25/12): Osmolik, now 52, has been sentenced to 48 months in prison for embezzling what is now believed to be $1,777,791 from Latex International.

Update (7/12/12): Coleman was sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison for his role in fleecing Latex International out of $1.7 million to finance "an absurdly extravagant lifestyle."

Wisconsin Woman Accused Of Embezzling $100K

Christine Swan, 48, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, who has been accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from Crossroads USA, a local auto dealership, is reportedly seeking a plea agreement with prosecutors.  According to authorities, Swan, who was employed as office manager for the dealership, created phony inventories to obtain loans from M&I Bank which she converted to her own benefit.  She has been charged with one felony count of fraud against a financial institution.

Read the story here and here.

Update (2/21/12): Swan pleaded no contest and has been convicted of a Class H felony as a consequence.  She faces up to 3 1/2 years in prison, plus restitution.

Massachusetts Woman Sentenced For Embezzling $350K To Finance Lifestyle

Margaret Connor, 56, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, has been sentenced to one year in jail for embezzling about $350,000 from a local medical practice where she had been employed as office manager.  According to authorities, Connor wrote more than 150 checks from company accounts for her own benefit and subsequently made false bookkeeping entries in an attempt to conceal the misappropriations.  Connor reportedly used the stolen money to finance her lifestyle including to pay for personal travel, dining, clothing, furniture, jewelry and her mortgage and utility bills, among other things.  Connor has also been ordered to pay $350,000 in restitution and will serve 10 years probation following her jail time.  Connor, who was originally indicted in March 2011, pleaded guilty to charges of larceny over $250 by continuous scheme and false entries in corporate books.

Read the story here and here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

California Man Pleads Is Sentenced For Embezzling $825K From Travel Companies To Support Lavish Lifestyle

Jeremy Kealoha Belisario, 38, formerly of Irvine, California, has pleaded guilty to charges he embezzled some $825,000 from two travel companies he had worked for as travel manager, including TravelCorp USA and another unnamed family own travel business.  Belisario was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in state prison and ordered to pay restitution and fines of more than $2.6 million.   Authorities alleged that between June 2006 and March 2008, Belisario made numerous fraudulent purchases with company credit accounts for luxury travel and to purchase personal luxury items, among other things.  Meanwhile, the small family run travel business, which he hit for $800,000, was forced to lay off 15 employees and cut pay for the remainder in order to survive.  Belisario pleaded guilty to grand theft by an employee and fraudulently using an access card, two counts of grand theft, two counts of identity theft, two counts of acquiring access card information without permission, one count of embezzlement by an employee, and admitted to sentencing enhancements for aggravated white-collar crime of more than $500,000 and property damage of more than $150,000.

Read the story here and here.

Tennessee Woman Indicted On Charges She Embezzled More Than $1.5 Million

Karen Little-Tripp, believed to be 47, of Eads, Tennessee, has been indicted on one count of Bank Fraud in connection with an alleged embezzlement scheme that netted more than $1.5 million from Seiler-Nabors Construction Company where she had been employed as a bookkeeper.  According to prosecutors, over a period of as much as five years, Tripp wrote numerous checks from company accounts for her own benefit to support a lavish lifestyle.  Meanwhile, the company struggled financially, laying off more than 20 employees before filing for bankruptcy.  Trip also funnelled company money into her antiques business, Town Square Antiques, according to reports. 

Read the story here and here.

Update (5/7/12): Little-Tripp has pleaded guilty to embezzling $1.5 million from Seiler-Nabors Construction Company where she had been employed over a 4 year period as a bookkeeper.

Louisiana Woman Accused Of Embezzling $130K From School Board Association

Doris Flemming Butler, 49, of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been accused of embezzling more than $130,000 from the Louisiana School Board Association where she had been employed.  Details of the investigation have yet to be released.  However, an audit revealed that over a 7 year period, from 2003 until 2011, some $130,212.89 was misappropriated. 

Developing...

Read the story here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

Woman Sentenced For Embezzling More Than $166K From Minnesota Real Estate Concern

Kathleen Cicmil, 56, formerly of Hibbing, Minnesota and currently of Palm Desert, California, has been sentenced to 21 months in state prison for embezzling $166,219.12 from Perrella and Associates, a real estate and appraisal service where she had been employed as a bookkeeper.  According to authorities, over a period of four years, from 2005 to 2009, Cicmil siphoned funds from the company.  Nevertheless, she is believed to have embezzled more than $300,000 from the firm from between 1998 and 2009, but the statute of limitations did not allow for the entire loss to be included.  Cicmil had been employed by the firm for 18 years.   She was also ordered to pay restitution.  Cicmil was originally charged in December 2009 and plead guilty last month to one count of theft by swindle. 

Read the story here, here and here.

Former Bank Officer In Missouri Sentenced For Embezzling More Than $450K

Troy W. Posten, 42, of Crocker, Missouri, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for embezzling $451,763.46 from the Bank of Crocker where he had been employed as a loan officer.  According to authorities, over a period of 4 years, from May 2004 until May 2008, Posten fraudulently obtained loans, lines of credit, and funds from bank customers’ accounts without their knowledge or approval.  Posten reportedly used the misappropriated funds for his own benefit, including paying off personal loans and obligations.  He pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud last July.  Posten, who is reportedly a former Richland school board member, has also been barred from working in the financial services industry.

Read the story here and here.