Former CFO Of Alabama Hospice Charged With Embezzling More Than $466K

Royce Leon Washburn, Jr., 49, of Sylacauga, Alabama, has been charged with bank fraud in connection with his alleged embezzlement of $466,500 from the accounts of American Homecare Hospice where he had been employed as CFO.  According to authorities, over an unspecified period of time, Washburn wrote checks to himself and received direct deposits into his personal accounts from payroll "greatly exceeding" his authorized salary.  He had been employed as CFO from January 2007 until December 2011 when he was fired.  Washburn faces up to 30 years in prison plus restitution and fines.

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Texas Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling More Than $2 Million From BofA

Pamela Cobb, 40, of River Oaks, Texas, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $2 million from Bank of America where she had been employed as a branch manager.  According to authorities, over a period of at least 9 years, from 2002 until April 2011, Cobb withdrew cash from bank customer accounts, sometimes forging their signatures on withdrawal slips.  Cobb reportedly used the misappropriated funds to pay for personal luxury items including motor vehicles, property, vacations, clothing, and jewelry.

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Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

California Woman Facing Trial For Embezzling Nearly $400K From Pastry Smart

Gabriela Figueroa Verdusco

Gabriela Figueroa Verdusco, 32, of Redwood City, California, who has been charged with embezzling at least $387,631.03 from Pastry Smart in San Mateo, where she had been employed as a bookkeeper, is now facing trial.  According to authorities, over a 3 year period, from 2008 through 2011, Verdusco wrote checks to herself from company accounts.  Authorities believe Verdusco stole the money to cover extensive financial debts.  She has plead not guilty last October to 7 counts of embezzlement. 

Read the story here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

California Woman Charged With Embezzling $104K From County Tax Office

Patricia Moretti

Mary "Patricia" Moretti, 56, of Mariposa, California, has been charged with embezzling about $104,000 from the Mariposa County tax office where she had been employed.   According to authorities, over a six year period, from September 2006 until earlier this year, Moretti is believed to have siphoned funds from the tax office by converting tax receipts for her own benefit.  The 71-count criminal complaint filed against Moretti includes charges of burglary, grand theft, embezzlement by clerk, embezzlement by government clerk, forgery and altering government documents.

Read the story here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

Colorado Man Accused Of Embezzling Nearly $150K From Local Hospice

Yochai Uzi Berlin, 28, of Broomfield, Colorado, has been charged with embezzling nearly $150,000 from HospiceCare of Boulder and Broomfield Counties where he had been employed as an accountant.  According to authorities, manipulated the company's new electronic vendor payment system to pay himself substantial amounts of money over a period of several months.  According to the arrest affidavit, investigators believe that Berlin made 16 payments to himself from the vendor system totaling $103,115.30.  He also allegedly added mileage reimbursement to his paycheck and his wife's paycheck worth $36,600 between August and October of 2011.  He has been charged with theft and money laundering.

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Mississippi Couple Charged With Embezzling More Than $100K

Emily Sanders, 53, and Merrick Sanders, 54, of Natchez, Mississippi have been arrested on charged they embezzled more than $100,000 from a company they were starting up with other investors in which Emily was president and Merrick was vice president.  Instead of using the investor funds to open the business, the Sanders' allegedly used it for their own benefit.

Developing...

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Tennessee Couple Charged With Embezzling More Than $730K From Non-Profit

Risa Woodward

Risa Lynn Woodward, 45, and her husband, James Calvin Woodward, Jr., 48, both of Hendersonville, Tennessee, have been indicted on charges they embezzled more than $730,000 from the American Association for State and Local History where Risa Woodward had been employed as finance director.  According to the indictment, the couple are accused of using the association’s credit and debit cards, forging a credit-card application and stealing the identity of the group’s executive director in order to defraud the non-profit.  The Woodward's are accused of using the misappropriated funds and organization's credit cards to buy lodging, clothing, food, appliances and other goods for their own benefit.  Risa Woodward joined the non-profit in 1991 and became finance director in 1994, resigning in August 2011.  It is unclear how long the fraud has been ongoing.  Arraignment is scheduled for April 11, 2012.

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Update (4/12/12): Risa and James Woodward both pleaded not guilty.

Update (8/7/12): The American Association for State and Local History has now sued its former accounting firm for damages for failing to recognize the alleged $800,000 Woodward embezzlement. 

Michigan Man Charged With Embezzling More Than $500K From Auto Insurance Concern

Jason Matthew Arntz, 32, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, has been charged with embezzling more than $500,000 from Auto-Owners Insurance where he had been employed as a claims officer.  According to authorities, Arntz added items to legitimate customer insurance claims and converting those items for his own use.  He has been charged with 7 felony counts. 

Read the story here.

Update (8/17/12): Arntz has been sentenced to 1 year in prison and ordered to pay some $600,000 in restitution.  Arntz, who pleaded guilty in July, had faced up to 20 years in prison.

Iowa Woman Sentenced For Embezzling $175K

Katheryn L. Hutchens, 56, of Marshaltown, Iowa, has been sentenced to just 8 years probation for embezzling at least $175,000 from Weidner Construction Inc., where she had served as office manager.  According to authorities, over a period of at least 4 years, Hutchens stole from the company by forging company checks.  Company owners believed she stole as much as $350,000.  She reportedly used the stolen money on lavish personal spending. 

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Former Washington State Lawyer Pleads Guilty To Charges He Embezzled More Than $1 Million From Clients

Peter Allen Moote, 63, formerly of Whidbey Island, Washington, has pleaded guilty to charges he embezzled more than $1 million from his clients.  According to authorities, over a period of more than 10 years, Moote siphoned funds from client trust accounts to pay for his personal living expenses and gambling.  Moote has agreed to pay restitution and is expected to be sentenced in June 2012.

Read the story here and here.

Read the DOJ announcement here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Julianne.

Former Bank Employee In Missouri Sentenced For Embezzling $444K

Thelma Black, 66, of Farmington, Missouri, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for embezzling some $444,000 from the Sun Security Bank and its predecessor bank where she had been employed.  According to authorities, over a period of at least 11 years, from at least 2000 to approximately May 2011, Black transferred bank customer funds into her own account or cashed customer funds for her own benefit.  She pleaded guilty to two counts of bank embezzlement last December.  Black had been employed by the bank and its predecessors for 28 years.  She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $451,000.

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Read the DOJ announcement here.

Michigan Woman Accused Of Embezzling More Than $100K From Local HVAC Firm

Deborah Lynn Bricker, 58, of Alanson, Michigan, has been arrested on charges she embezzled more than $100,000 from Fisher Plumbing and Heating where she had been employed as a bookkeeper.  According to authorities, over a period of more than 3 years, from December 2008 to 2012, Bricker wrote and forged checks to herself and family members.  She faces charged of conducting a criminal enterprise and conspiracy to conduct a criminal enterprise, among other felony charges.

Read the story here.

Former Legal Assistant In Ohio Convicted Of Embezzling $305K

Christina G. Lynn, 41, of Williamsport, Ohio, has been convicted and sentenced to 27 months in prison for embezzling $305,127 from the Huffer and Huffer law firm where she had been employed as a legal assistant.  According to authorities, over a period of six years, from April 2004 through April 2010, Lynn took monies from law firm clients intended for veterans benefits, among other things.  Lynn had pleaded guilty last October to one count of embezzlement of public funds.

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Delaware Woman Charged With Embezzling More Than $400K From Farm

Valerie D. Onley, 41, of Salisbury, Delaware, has been charged with embezzling more than $400,000 from Westwood Farms Inc. where she had been employed as a bookkeeper.  According to authorities, over a period of at least 2 years, from August 2009 through August 2011, Onley wrote checks to herself and her husband, using business credit cards for personal purchases, and using the company funds to pay her personal bills.  Onley's husband, James A. Onley Jr., 41, also of Salisbury, has also been charged criminally in this case.  He is currently in jail in Maryland on unrelated charges. 

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Embezzlement Of $118K From North Carolina Auto Dealership Being Investigated

Wake Forest, North Carolina police are investigating allegations that $118,647.27 was embezzled from the Crossroads Ford of Wake Forest Inc. auto dealership by Helen Beckham Taylor, believed to be 55 years old and the former accounting manager.  The alleged embezzlement is believed to have ocurred over a period of more than 2 years, from January 1, 2009 until March 26, 2011.  Taylor not yet been charged criminally.  However, authorities believe she took money from deposits at the dealership and replaced cash with checks she had taken from the mail and “any other source available.”

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Former Head Of Virginia Rescue Squad Charged With Embezzling More Than $100K

Thomas Franklin Carroll, aka Tommy Carroll, 49, of Bluefield, Virginia, has been charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from the Bluefield Rescue Squad where he had served as administrator.  According to authorities, over a period of 3 1/2 years, from January 2008 until June 2011, Carroll misappropriated funds from the rescue squad by abusing credit card accounts for personal use, increasing his pay without authorization and obtaining a loan using squad equipment as collateral. 

Read the story here and here.