Major Embezzlement Cases: September 1 - 7, 2012

Paul Nogaki

Paul Takuya Nogaki, 55, of Murrieta, California, was arrested on charges he embezzled as much as $135,000 from the Vista Murrieta Golden Alliance Band Boosters for which he had served as treasurer.  According to media reports, an informal audit was conducted after a new treasurer was appointed which confirmed that Nogaki had misappropriated Band Booster Club funds for his personal use. 

Update (10/24/12): Nogaki has pleaded not guilty to the embezzlement charges of what is now believed to be more than $212,000.  His thefts allegedly spanned a 2 year period.

Todd W. Lauzon, 39, of Woonsockett, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty to 30 counts of embezzlement in connection with his alleged theft of at least $137,000 from customer deposits for pre-payment of funderal services with his business, Lauzon Funeral Home.  Prosecutors allege that Lauzon misappropriated client funds over a 7 year period, from 2002 to 2009. 

Update (9/5/12): Lauzon was sentenced to a net 4 years in prison.

Patricia Ann Stanz, 61, pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled more than $525,000 from the Gesu Roman Catholic Church in West Toledo, Ohio where she had served as business manager.  Over a period of about 3 years, from June 2008 through August 2011, Stanz issued nearly 100 checks to herself or cash.  During this period she also abused church credit card accounts for her own benefit.  Specifically, Stanz pleaded guilty to one count each of counterfeit securities and of fraudulent use of access device.  Stanz reportedly blames a gambling addiction for her actions.

Update (2/23/13): Stanz was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to repay $505,777 in restitution.

The late Linda Mae Jenkins, who passed away at 53 on March 24, 2012 from cancer, is reported to have embezzled about $140,000 from Old Orchard Beach, Maine's Libby Memorial Library, where she had served as bookeeper.  Jenkins' thefts reportedly spanned a 6 year period.  Officials blamed a complete lack of oversight for the embezzlement.

Charity Howder

Charity D. Howder, 36, of Santa Rosa, California, has been arrested on charges she embezzled some $262,000 from a Petaluma consulting company and a Rohnert Park law office where she had served as outside bookkeeper.  Howder allegedly wrote numerous checks from the accounts of her two clients, The Law Offices of Charlotte Creaghan and Project Management Solutions, Inc., for her own benefit.  Specifically, Howder has been charged with one count of grand theft and two counts of forgery. 

Update (12/3/12): Howder is now suspected of embezzling an additional $102,000 from a third client, Andreoli's Towing, through her bookkeeping business, G&C Financial. 

Two former North Carolina Central University administrators were indicted for allegedly conspiring to misappropriate more than $1 milliion from the institution.  The two include Nan Coleman, who administered the former Historically Minority Colleges and Universities Consortium, and former NCCU Provost Beverly Washington Jones.  Coleman and Jones allegedly embezzling $137,330 and $62,128, respectively, in grant money meant to help African American students.  Coleman allegedly stole the funds over a 5 year period, from 2005 through 2010 and Jones misappropriated the funds over a 4 year period, from 2005 through 2009.  An additional $600,000 was allegedly diverted to a private account used by Coleman to pay for personal expenses over a nine month period between December 2008 and August 2009. 

Major Embezzlement Cases August 21 - 31, 2012

Etheridge H. Moore

Etheridge Henry Moore, 58, of Kentwood, Michigan, reportedly confessed to embezzling more than $100,000 from the Heritage Baptist Church in Gaines Township, where he had served as pastor for 26 years.  Moore allegedly submitted receipts for reimbursement which were not approved by the deacons of the church.  The thefts allegedly spanned at least 2 1/2 years beginning at least as far back as January 2010.

Update (12/11/12): The amount emezzled by Moore is now believed to be $316,000, according to investigators.  Moore was sentenced to 1 to 20 years in prison, but will be recommended for a boot camp program that could allow him to be back to work at a Holland area car dealership within six months.

Jennifer Lynn McCage, 39, of Memphis, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to embezzling some $234,000 from Dunavant Enterprises where she had been employed as an executive assistant to company chairman, William B. 'Billy' Dunavant Jr.  According to authorities, beginning in April 2007, McCage began abusing Dunavant's credit cards and checking accounts for personal purposes.  The thefts reportedly continued until January 2012.  She had been employed at the company since 1992.  She faces a sentence of up to 27 months in prison.

Update (12/4/12): McCage was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $234,000 in restitution following her guilty plea to one count of mail fraud.

Manika Kelly, 33, was arrested and charged with embezzling more than $107,000 from the City of Anguilla, Mississippi, where she had served as town clerk.  According to authorities, Kelly misappropriated town receipts for her own purposes over  a period of about 5 years, from October 2006 through November 2011, totaling $107,444.67.  Update (2/21/14): Kelly has pleaded guilty to one felony count of grand larceny.

Timothy Sharpe, a paralegal working for the Chattanooga, Tennessee branch of the Fisher Law Group, has been charged with embezzling about $126,000 from the law firm.  According to legal filings, over an 11 month period, Sharpe converted at least 30 checks made out to the firm for his own benefit.  The law firm has sued their bank, Regions Bank, the institution through which Sharpe's alleged fraud was perpetrated, for recovery.

Jongluck "Lucky" Mutrais, 59, of Orange, California, pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled some $600,000 from the City of Long Beach, for which she was employed in the Animal Care Services Bureau.  She is expected to be sentenced to 3 years in state prison pursuant to a plea agreement.  Mutrais' misappropriations reportedly spanned a 10 year period.  Specifically, Mutrais was charged with one felony count each of misappropriation of public funds, altering or falsifying an account and embezzlement by a public officer, along with six felony counts of filing false income tax returns. She pleaded guilty to embezzling public funds and filing a false 2008 state tax return and admitted two allegations that the amount of money taken was more than $100,000.

Update (9/12/12/): Mutrais was sentenced to 3 years in prison and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution.

Eugene Ceriello

Eugene Ceriello, 48, of Stamford, Connecticut was arrested for embezzling $1,157,706.62 from Greenwich Automotive Services where he had been employed as a manager.  According to authorities, Ceriello's thefts spanned nearly 4 years, from January 2005 to December 2008.  He had already pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April 2012.

Terry Kay Workman, 44, of Hurricane, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled about $380,000 from the law firm of Bucci, Bailey & Javins where she had been employed as office manager.  Over a period of at least 6 years, from 2004 until 2010 when she was fired, Workman wrote checks to herself.  She plead guilty to 6 out of 13 felony embezzlement counts she had been indicted on in a plea agreement. 

Update (9/25/12): Workman was sentenced to a miniumum of 6 years in prison.

Edward Steed

Edward Waters, 62, of Kinston, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to charges he defrauded the Discovery Insurance Company out of more than $2.3 million in a conspiracy involving executives and others affiliated with the company.  A total of $5.3 million is alleged to have been misappropriated from the company through an embezzlement scheme led by Former company executive Edward Roland Steed, 67, of Swansboro, North Carolina, who is accused of writing company claim checks to fictitious businesses owned by Marvin Quinn, 55, of Goldsboro, North Carolina and Waters.  Steed's brother, Franklin Steed, 65, of Denton, North Carolina, is accused of cashing checks from the insurance company that were made out to fake people.  The fraud allegedly spanned a 6 year period in which the four co-conspirators split the embezzled funds.  Steed faces 48 felony counts including conspiracy, corporate malfeasance, larceny by employee, embezzlement and obtaining property by false pretense.  The other defendants face similar charges.  Update: Waters has pleaded guilty in the case.

Dolores Morales was sentenced to 1 year in prison and ordered to pay restitution for embezzling about $111,000 from the Quail H Farms LLC in Livingston, California, where she had been employed as a sales clerk for some 20 years.  Morales reportedly accepted cash sales for produce and kept the money for herself over a period of 4 months beginning in 2010.

Stephanie Kaye Cieslinski, 53, of Midland, Michigan, pleaded guilty to two felony counts admitting she embezzled more than $100,000 from the local dentist office of Dr. Michael T. Smith where she had been employed.  Cieslinski admitted that she deposited receipts into her own accounts during the year 2009.  Cieslinski’s husband, Kenneth Cieslinski, 55, faces two counts of embezzlement as the funds misappropriated from Dr. Smith were held in accounts in Kenneth Cieslinski's name.  Together, the couple are alleged to have embezzled nearly $1 million from the dentist.  Stephanie Cieslinski was also ordered to pay $750,000 in restitution. 

An unnamed (now former) employee of Rathbun Reality in Tucson, Arizona is suspected in the alleged embezzlement of as much as $1 million from client accounts.  Developing...

Update (1/17/13): it appears that Rathbun owner George Glover and bookkeeper Cassandra Arnold may face criminal charges in the theft of what is now believed to be $1.8 million in client funds from trust accounts.  Glover's wife, Bette Glover, may also face charges.  The firm has since declared for bankruptcy.

Harry Jose, believed to be 41, of Canyon Country, California, has been sentenced to one year in jail for embezzling $256,000 from the Canyon Country Athletic Association for which he had served as treasurer.   Jose's thefts reportedly spanned a 4 year period.  He pleaded no contest to one count of grand theft and two counts of forgery.  Jose was also ordered to pay restutition. 

Update (12/7/12): Jose faces additional embezzlement charges in which he is alleged to have stolen nearly $90,000 from a different unnamed Sun Valley business after resigning from Canyon Country AA, according to prosecutors.



Paul Kulgavin

Paul Kulgavin, 33, of Oakton, Virginia has been arrested on charges he embezzled more than $200,000 from an unnamed Falls Church defense contractor.   Kulgavin is accused of not repaying advance monies for seminars that never ocurred in 2011 and 2012.  He faces to counts of embezzlement.  (Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe)  Note: research suggests that the unnamed defense contractor is Sevatec, Inc.

Satishi Suri, 57, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been arrested on federal fraud charges involving $2.37 million in fraudulent mortgages and loans for eight properties while serving as a bank officer at Sovereign Bank in Horsham, Pennsylvania.  Suri allegedly submitted false and fraudulent documents to get the loans and mortgages approved in exchange for kickbacks from the borrowers.

Kathryn Charbonneau

Kathryn E. Charbonneau, 49, of Bay City, Michigan, has been accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from the law firm of Rieman & Reyes in Bay City, Michigan, where she had been employed as the long-time secretary and bookkeeper.  Charbonneau's thefts allegedly spanned an 11 year period, from 2001 through 2012.  According to authorities, Charbonneau pocketed cash receipts for her own benefit.  (Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe)

Update (10/25/12): Charbonneau's thefts are now believed to be $446,000.

Lili Clay, 50, of Mountain View, California has been arrested and charged with embezzling some $350,000 from Lencioni Construction where she had been employed.  Clay allegedly kept fraudulent reimbursements over a period of about one and a half years, from January 2011 and August 2012.  When confronted by company owners, Clay admitted to the theft and fled the business, but was apprehended in her car in Exeter, California.  (Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe)

Update (12/14/12): Clay, who worked as the company controller for Lencioni Construction, has been sentenced to 4 years in prison.



Marc Eisbrener

Marc Wayne Eisbrener, 30, of Caledonia, Michigan, has reached a plea agreement with county prosecutors in Kent County to plead guilty to one count of embezzlement of between $50,000 and $100,000 from Ludema’s Floral and Garden where he had been employed as a general manager.  The business has been in the Ludema family for 5 generations and Eisbrener married Alison Ludema, who has not been charged with any crime in this case at this time.  Eisbrener is believed to have embezzled about $345,000 from the business over a 2 year period from 2009 to 2011.  As part of the plea agreement, Eisbrener has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $345,528, plus $5,000 to the company's insurance carrier.


Kandi Kay Holden, 43, of Cantonment, Florida, has been indicted on charges she embezzled at least $282,000 from Cantwell Steel Erectors, Inc., where she had been employed as a bookkeeper.  According to prosecutors, over a period of more than 6 years, from November 2004, until her discharge in January 2011, Holden executed at least 120 fraudulent wire transfers of company funds to her own accounts and failed to pay income tax on the ill-gotten gains.  Specifically, Holden has been indicted on 120 counts of wire fraud and 5 counts of federal tax violations.


Scott Anthony Gardner, a former investigator at the Porterville Developmental Center, in Porterville, California has been charged with embezzling $121,000 in fraudulent overtime pay from the agency.  Gardner's superior, Jeffrey Bradley, the former police chief, allegedly participated in the fraud “by directing and authorizing false entries on overtime slips submitted by Scott Gardner with respect to the number of hours worked and the reasons the hours were worked,” according to the criminal complaint.  The overtime hours were logged in 2008 and the pair were originally indicted on embezzlement charges in 2010.


Kirk Strause

Kirk Lester Strause, 51, of Sanford, North Carolina, has been arrested on charges he embezzled $331,000 from Primax Properties LLC where he had been employed in an undisclosed capacity.  According to media reports, Strause made unauthorized expenditures for his own benefit from company business accounts beginning in June 2006 and continuing through August 2012.  Specifically, Strause has been charged with one count felony embezzlement greater than $100,000, one count felony forgery of endorsement, one count felony uttering forged endorsement and one count obtaining property by false pretense greater than $100,000.  (Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe)

Major Embezzlement Cases: August 14 - 20, 2012

Cheryl Porter

Cheryl Celeste Kenyon Porter, 45, of Greensboro, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled about $162,000 from Piedmont Staffing Solutions Inc., where she had been employed and had the responsibility of handling the company's payroll.  According to authorities, Porter caused the payroll system to cut additional payroll checks to herself and family members, totalling $162,000.  The thefts spanned a period of about 4 years, beginning in 2008.

Heather Nicole Laake, 21, of Winifrede, West Virginia, has been charged with embezzling more than $101,000 from the South Charleston Employees Federal Credit Union where she had been employed.  According to authorities, Laake took funds from customer accounts and changed the account information in an effort to conceal the thefts.  Laake's boyfriend at the time, Dewayne Spaulding, is also facing similar charges.  The misappropriations reportedly spanned a 4 month period. 

Stennett “Glen” Bernard, 58, of Brockton, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 5 years probation and ordered to pay restitution for embezzling $173,312 from the United Steelworkers Local 421 union which operated at the Serta Mattress Company in Middleboro, Mass.  Bernard had served as president of the union from which he siphoned funds over a period of about 2 years. 

Joseph Winford Hughes, 44, and his wife, Cylena Taylor Hughes, 44, both of Bryson City, North Carolina, were arrested and charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from the Bryson City Fire Department local Firemen’s Relief Fund and the East Swain Elementary Parent Teacher Organization fund.  Joseph Hughes was the Bryson City fire chief. 

Pamela Fisha Nishon Atkinson, 41, of Asheville, North Carolina, was arrested and charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from Wood Tech Enterprises over a period of about 2 years, from 2009 to 2011.   Developing...



Cathleen Schmid

Cathleen Schmid, believed to be in her mid-40s, has been arrested and charged with embezzling about $220,000 from Dominion Liquid Technologies of Fairfax, Ohio.  The thefts reportedly spanned a 3 year period, from 2008 through 2011.  Schmid allegedly submitted fraudulent expense reports for reimbursement and caused the company to issue checks to third party personal vendors to whom she owed money.

Update (11/20/12): Schmid, 47, was sentenced to 2 years in prison.  She has a history of embezzlement and was convicted in:

• 2006 for stealing $51,126.82 from Hills Developers, where Schmid worked from March 2003 to August 2005. She also used fake invoices there to help her steal company money. She was placed on probation and ordered to repay the company;
• 2009 for stealing $10,000 from her Mason employer, National Starch, now known as Henkel Co. She was placed on probation for three years in 2009 and ordered to spend 150 days in jail on a work release program. She was working for Dominion at that time;
• 2000 in Clermont County for a theft case for which she received probation, the judge said Monday. It’s unclear if that conviction was for stealing from an employer.

Mirza H. Baig, 49, of Marlborough, Massachusetts was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for embezzling more than $2 million from New England Cash Dispensing Systems Inc. which was contracted to manage ATMs for the Domestic Bank of Cranston, Rhode Island.  Baig and other NECDS employees reportedly ordered excess cash for ATM refills and pocketed the difference.

Major Embezzlement Cases: August 7 - 13, 2012

I am going to make a concerted effort to get caught up here, but it may take some time.  Real work and life has intruded on all this fun fraud stuff...

Nicholas James Collins, 55, of Minneapolis, MN was arrested on charges he embezzled more than $155,000 from Open Arms of Minnesota, a local non-profit that delivers food to home bound individuals through Meals on Wheels and Loaves & Fishes charities.  He was the director of food services from 2009 to 2012 and presented fraudulent invoices for catering services.

Update (3/29/13): Collins pleaded guilty to four counts of theft by swindle in connection with the embezzlement of about $155,000 from Open Arms of Minnesota.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4, 2013.

Monica Lou Pruett, 59, of Connell, Washington, was arrested on charges she embezzled more than $100,000 from D & S Farms where she had served as outside bookkeeper through her business, Lierman Business Services.  Developing...  Note: Pruett was the mayor pro-tem of Connell, Washington at the time of her arrest.

Update (11/14/12): Pruett is scheduled to go on trial in December 2012 on aggravated felony charges of first-degree theft and money laundering.  According to court documents, her thefts spanned nearly 7 years from June 2005 through April 2012.  She is accused of using client checks from D&S Farms to pay her personal and business property taxes and utilities.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/11/14/2170101/connell-official-in-court-on-embezzlement.html#storylink=cpy

Bobby Glen Guin

Bobby Glen Guin, 44, of Minden, Louisiana, was indicted on charges he allegedly embezzled nearly $100,000 from the Webster Parish Coroner’s Office where he had been employed as a bookkeeper.  The thefts reportedly spanned more than a 3 year period, from March 4, 2009 through June 15, 2012, according to the indictment.

Update (11/14/12): Guin has been sentenced to a net 1 year in jail.

A prominent Tennessee-based surgeon, Dr. David G. Stanley, filed a civil lawsuit against his former bookkeeper, Jeffrey L. Russell, now 64, and SunTrust Bank for damages sustained as a result of Russell's embezzlement of some $654,003.82 from two of Dr. Stanley's companies over a five year period, from 2005 through 2010.  Russell was indicted in August 2011 on eight counts of forgery and two counts of theft and was arrested in July 2012 after months on the run.  According to the lawsuit, Russell wrote checks out of the operating accounts of Vascular Diagnostic Center of Oak Ridge, and Stanley's billing company, Physicians Diagnostic Services and deposited them into the SunTrust account of Premier Business Services, a janitorial business owned by Russell.

Ignacio "Nacho" Morales, 40, of North Philadelphia, PA, was charged with embezzling more than $2.3 million from the Borinquen Federal Credit Union (BFCU), where he was employed as a manager.  Morales repotedly used the ill-gotten gains to purchase 15 kilograms of cocaine and real estate.  BFCU was acquired by the National Credit Union Association in June 2011 which propmptly shuttered the financial institution.  Specifically, Morales has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, misapplication and embezzlement, making false reports on federal credit institution entries, engaging in monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity, filing false federal income tax returns, and attempted possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

Erica Gilmore-Grier, 35, of Fort Pierce, Florida has been indicted along with six other female beneficiaries/conspirators in a scheme to embezzle more than $200,000 from Policy Studies Inc., where she had been employed as a financial manager.  Specifically, she has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and 64 counts of mail fraud.  According to the indictment, Gilmore-Grier authorized at least 64 fraudulent refund checks to her family and friends, also named as co-defendants in the case.  These include Margo Nickerson, Bridgette Galarza, Chelsea Durham, Jessica Harris, Jamile Williams and Venus Holloman.

Update (2/26/13): Gilmore-Grier was sentenced to 33 months in prison.  He co-horts, including Margo Nickerson, 36, Jessica Harris, 22, Jamile Williams, 34, and Venus Holloman, 26, and Port St. Lucie residents Bridgette Galarza, 31, and 40-year-old Chelsea Durham, were also convicted on related charges.  Nickerson was sentenced to 30 months, Harris to 24 months and Holloman to 20 months. The remaining will serve four to eight months.

John Kammerer, 60, of Wichita, Kansas, was sentenced to 51 months in prison for embezzling more than $1.2 million from Network Results of Kansas Inc. where he had been employed as company controller.  According to reports, Kammerer caused numerous checks to be issued to HMK Enterprises, a company that he controlled.  Kammerer had pleaded guilty last May to one count of bank fraud in connection with the embezzlement and must pay $1,240,540 in restitution.

Three parking attendants at the  Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia were arrested for embezzling at least $400,000 in parking fees over a period of 3 years.  The arrested included two women, Freweyni Mebrahtu of Sterling, VA and Genete Yigzu of Alexandria, VA, and one man, Meseret Terefe of Silver Spring, Maryland, employees of Parking Management Inc., which held the contract to manage the parking lot.  The three were recorded unplugging automobile counting devices and pocketing the difference, as much as $4,000 a day each.

Update (2/8/13): According to media reports, more than $1.5 million was stolen from the Smithsonian via the three parking attendant conspiracy over about a 3 year period.  Mebrahtu admitted she alone stole $895,000 herself and was sentenced to 27 months in prison.  Terefe was sentenced to 20 months in prison and Yigzu died before trial. 

Denise Inez Owens, 58, of Ocean Pines, Maryland, has been charged with embezzling more than $433,000 from the Worcester County Teacher's Association, where she had served as Treasurer.  Owens allegedly wrote numerous unauthorized checks to herself and others, and made withdrawals from the account for "personal issues and debt," according to the police.  Developing...

Update (2/19/13): Owens pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled $433,000 from the teachers union and blamed a gambling habit for her actions.
Update (3/4/13): Owens was sentenced to 2 years in prison and ordered to pay $211,545 in restitution.

Davie Ba Ngo, 52, president of the Concerned Members Committee in Northern California and his co-worker, Stephanie Tuyet Le, 31, were charged with embezzling at least $200,000 from the survifor benefits firm.  Prosecutors charged both Ngo and Le with embezzlement. Ngo is also charged with theft by false pretenses, sale of an unqualified security, running a fraudulent securities scheme, money laundering and bouncing checks.

Update (1/4/13): Ngo, now 53, pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement charges.  Le, now 32, was convicted on a single embezzlement charge.
Update (3/1/13): Ngo was sentenced to 2 years in prison and Le was sentenced to 6 months.

Jamie Askew, 36, of Troy, Illinois, has been indicted on charges she embezzled $104,755 between July 2009 and May $104,755 between July 2009 and May 2012 from St. Louis Community Credit Union in St. Louis, Missouri,  where she had ben employed.  Developing...

Update (12/17/12): Askew pleaded guilty to one felony count of embezzlement.

John C. Sheehan, 43, of Rohnert Park, California, has been arrested for allegedly embezzling about $1 million from Bibbero Systems Inc. where he had been employed for 15 years.  The thefts reportedly spanned a 6 year period.  Sheehan has been charged with eight felony counts, including grand theft and possession of stolen property.  Meanwhile, the company has suffered financially and has reduced its staff by 50% over the past 5 years. 

Update (11/21/12): Sheehan, orginally known as John Christopher Schoenthal, was sentenced to more than 9 years in prison.  According to prosecutors, Sheehan created a fictitious company, MP Technologies, and began billing for office supplies never received.

James Ryan Lanier, 33, of Albany, Georgia was arrested San Diego, California on fraud, money laundering, and identity theft charges relating to the embezzlement of more than $800,000 in funds from Merrill Lynch clients.  According to the indictement, over a period of more than 2 years, from 2008 through 2010, Lanier transmitted fraudulent letters of authorization bearing forged client signatures to wire funds for his own benefit. 

Update (3/8/13): Lanier was sentenced to 106 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $887,931 in restitution to Merrill Lynch.