Nebraska Woman Reaches Plea Agreement In $2.5 Million Embezzlement Conspiracy

From KETV Ch.7 on 1/22/2015:

A Fremont woman tied to an embezzlement scheme that netted nearly $2.5 million has been convicted on three misdemeanor counts.

The Fremont Tribune reports that 51-year-old Kathy Springer-Hesman pleaded no contest Thursday to receiving stolen property and two counts of attempted filing of false tax returns. Prosecutors had lowered some charges and dropped others in return for her pleas. Her sentencing is set for March 27.

Springer-Hesman and 43-year-old Joleen Cameron are accused of helping Cameron's father, Dennis Hesman, steal from his employer, Gavilon.

The 66-year-old Hesman died in August. He was accused of creating fake grain receipts at the grain elevator he ran.

A court document says Cameron has worked out a plea deal and is asking that her arraignment hearing be delayed until Feb. 11.

Michigan Woman Accused Of Embezzling $460K From Nursing Home Residents

From www.mlive.com on 10/17/2014:

LAPEER, MI – The Lapeer County woman accused of embezzling more than $460,000 from residents at a Rochester Hills nursing home has been arraigned and is free on bond.

Tina Marie Binkley, 44, of Almont, was arraigned Thursday, Oct. 16, according to the Attorney General's Office. The charges include two counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of $100,000 or more, with each charge punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine or three times value of the money or property involved, whichever is greater.

Oakland County District Court Judge Julie Nicholson set Binkley's bond at $25,000 cash or surety, which she posted on Friday, Oct. 17, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Investigators allege money was taken from 136 residents from the Boulevard Health Center.

Authorities said Binkley was fired in April 2013 from her job as the facility's business manager after allegedly failing to follow standard financial reporting procedures.

The case was referred to the Attorney General's Office after an accountant hired by the facility noticed bookkeeping discrepancies. Binkley allegedly had access to a general account for facility income and day-to-day expense, as well as a trust fund.

Binkley was arrested Thursday, Oct. 16, by special agents from the Department of Attorney General after an investigation by the state Attorney General's Health Care Fraud Division.

Binkley is scheduled to be in court for a pre-exam conference on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 10 a.m. and will be assigned a court-appointed attorney.


Update (3/2/2015): Binkley sentenced to prison:

A nursing home business manager who stole $460,000 from residents of the Oakland County facility has been sentenced to between two years, four months and 20 years in prison.

Forty-four-year-old Tina Binkley of Almont pleaded guilty Jan. 27 to one count of embezzlement from vulnerable adults.

Binkley told an Oakland County circuit judge at Monday's sentencing that she's "very sorry" for what she did and "is not the same person" who committed the crimes.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has said that Binkley agreed to pay $460,000 in restitution to 136 victims. Schuette says that she stole the money between May 2010 and April 2013 as business office manager at Boulevard Health Center in Rochester Hills.

California Woman Pleads Guilty To Charges She Embezzled $200K From Bed & Breakfast

Denise Ann Conophy, 51, of Calistoga, California, has pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled more than $200,000 from an unnamed 80-year-old woman and her bed and breakfast inn, for whom she handled her bookkeeping and finances.  According to authorities, over a 7 year period, Conophy systematically transferred the victim's assets to various accounts and used them to pay her personal bills as well as to start up an Internet business she was operating.  Conophy, who plead guilty to embezzlement, elder abuse and tax evasion, will be sentenced to 16 months and prison and has been ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution.

Read the story here.

Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.

Update (3/9/12): Conophy was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

New York Bank Manager Accused Of Stealing More Than $400K From Safety Deposit Box

Thomas Cararo, 35, formerly of Dickinson, New York and currently of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been charged with stealing some $410,000 from a safety deposit box at Citizens Bank in Binghamton, New York, where he was employed as a bank manager. According to authorities, Cararo began making cash deposits in October 2006, shortly after opening a safety deposit box for one of the bank's customers, Leonard Wilcox, 79, who wanted to safeguard his cash after flooding at his house, where it had been kept in a safe.

Read the story here, here and here.

Update: California Man Sentenced To 6 Years for $2 Million Embezzlement

Ryan Sawyer Merman, 69, of Santa Rosa, California, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for embezzling more than $1.8 million from STX Inc., where he had been employed as a manager for 12 years. According to prosecutors, Merman's thefts occurred over a 7 year period between March 2002 and 2009. He plead guilty last September to six felony counts that included forgery, elder fraud and embezzlement. He reportedly forged checks from the company for his own benefit.

Read FraudTalk's original post on this story here.

Read the story here.