Ex-officer of 2 taxpayer-funded Bronx nonprofits gets prison for embezzlement
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 05, 2013 - 3:02 am EDT
ALBANY, New York — The former fiscal officer of two taxpayer-funded Bronx charities has been sentenced to two to six years in prison for embezzling more than $500,000 from them over eight years.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office prosecuted the case, says 64-year-old Clement Gardner used the organizations "like his personal piggy bank."
Gardner pleaded guilty in February to grand larceny.
The related nonprofits are the Christian Community Benevolent Association and Christian Community in Action.
The latter group received Medicaid funding to provide home health services to the needy.
Justice Steven Barrett also ordered Gardner to repay $560,000.
From The Associated Press
Friday, April 5, 2013
Northern California Man Accused Of Embezzling More Than $100K From Clothing Company
Novato police allege man embezzled more than $100,000 from clothing firm
John Patrick Mullin (Marin
County Jail)
A Lake County man was arrested on allegations he swindled more
than $100,000 from a Novato clothing company.
Novato police Lt. Oliver Collins declined to release information about any suspected conspirators, saying the investigation is ongoing.
The theft allegations were reported about a year ago by the Ben Davis Co., which has its headquarters on Bel Marin Keys Boulevard. The investigation has been going on since then.
The alleged crimes occurred between April 2008 and last April, said Novato police Cpl. Christopher Jacob. Police are investigating whether the alleged embezzlement included both financial transactions and merchandise.
Frank Davis, head of the 77-year-old company, said Mullin was fired in April and the alleged theft was discovered after that. Davis said the exact losses have yet to be determined.
"John worked for Ben Davis for over 10 years; I look forward to getting at the facts," Davis said in an email. "I am hoping that John will 'come clean.'"
Mullin is now employed as the controller of a wine business based in Hopland. The general manager declined to comment, saying the company was just learning of the investigation.
Previously Convicted Felon Now Accused Of Embezzling $137K
Felon accused of embezzling $137,000
Apr. 04 2013
|
thestarpress.com
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MUNCIE — DIY Group Inc. gave Steven R. Thorn a break in 2003 when they hired him, only 14 months after the former local bank vice president had completed a federal prison term over a fraudulent loan scheme.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the Muncie packaging firm gave Thorn yet another break in mid-2009, when company officials determined he had “exerted unauthorized control” over DIY funds, but allowed him to continue working, providing he agreed to repay “some of the money.”
In January 2010, after Thorn stopped making the agreed-upon restitution payments, he was fired, according to the affidavit.
Four months later, DIY officials reported his alleged actions to Indiana State Police. A related theft charge — a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year prison term — was filed in June 2011.
On May 6, after several continuances and a rejected plea bargain, Thorn — now 48 and living in Dayton, Ohio — is set to stand trial, in Delaware Circuit Court 4, on allegations that he stole $137,000 in DIY funds between July 2007 and January 2010.
According to that affidavit:
• Thorn wrote DIY checks to his son after the younger man no longer worked for the Muncie company; issued payroll checks to his wife “which had not been earned,” and at times gave himself “additional and unauthorized payroll and vacation checks.” The total amount of the unauthorized checks was $29,674.66.
• Thorn used company credit cards for many personal expenses, including a family dinner at Vera Mae’s, purchases stemming from his son’s wedding, vacations that included a trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn., and purchases at a local appliance store and businesses at the Muncie Mall.
Those charges totaled $108,186, the document alleges.
Last July, Thorn and his defense attorney, Lon Bryan, struck a deal with the Delaware County prosecutor’s office that called for the ex-Yorktown resident to plead guilty as charged. The deal placed a four-year limit on any sentence Judge John Feick could have imposed, and specified that Thorn’s sentence would be served not in prison, but on electronic home detention, apparently in Ohio.
Deputy Prosecutor Joe Orick — assigned to the case after the agreement was reached — and probation officer John Bush later recommended the deal be rejected.
Feick on Sept. 26 ruled the proposed plea agreement was “not acceptable.”
Tharp’s trial at that point was set for Jan. 28, but it was later reset for May 6.
As recently as Dec. 18, Bryan reported “plea negotiations are ongoing in this case.”
Thorn’s 20-month federal prison term, imposed in July 2000, came after he was convicting of accepting a $187,718 bribe from a Yorktown man to arrange $1.3 million in fraudulent loans.
Thorn was an assistant vice president and commercial loan officer at what was then NBD Bank when that scheme was hatched in the mid-1990s, federal authorities said.
Despite his criminal record, and the pending charge accusing him of stealing more than $130,000, Thorn has never been processed at the Delaware County jail, records reflect. He did post a $1,000 bond after the theft charge was filed against him in 2011.
From the Muncie Star Press
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Restauranteur/Former Insurance Exec In Arkansas Indicted For Embezzling At Least $300K
Matt Lile, LR
Restaurateur and Former Insurance Executive, Indicted for Embezzlement
by Gwen Moritz on Wednesday, Apr. 3, 2013 8:30 pm
Feds Take Over $429K Embezzlement Case In Michigan - Priest Suspected
FBI now leads Troy priest embezzlement case
April 3, 2013 Niraj Warikoo
The FBI has taken over a criminal investigation into whether a popular Catholic priest in Troy embezzled more than $400,000 from his church.
Troy police had been leading the investigation into the Rev. Edward Belczak, 67, who was the pastor at St. Thomas More Parish in Troy for almost 30 years before the Archdiocese of Detroit removed him in January amid questions of financial improprieties.
But a few weeks ago, “the FBI came in and took over,” Troy Police Sgt. Andy Breidenich said Wednesday. Troy police still will handle the health care fraud part of the investigation, Breidenich said.
Belczak is accused of misappropriation of $429,000, using that money to pad his salary, according to the archdiocese.
An audit from the archdiocese alleged that Belczak also may have paid a ghost employee $240,000 over six years, accepted $25,000 that should have been deposited into parish accounts and provided improper medical and dental coverage to a parish member and employee, among other accusations.
The Free Press reported in January that Belczak bought a $500,000 luxury condo in Florida in 2005 from his longtime church manager Janice Verschuren, who also was removed from her position after the investigation became public. It is unclear how Belczak paid for the home. In metro Detroit, Catholic priests’ annual salaries are about $27,500 to the mid-$30,000 range, depending on years of service.
The FBI’s involvement probably “indicates there’s a violation of federal law,” which could include crimes across state lines, said Kathleen McChesney, a management consultant who was previously the third highest ranking FBI agent in the U.S. and was director of child and youth protection at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Most investigations involving priests are dealt with by local law enforcement, McChesney said. But in recent years, the FBI has been investigating more cases.
“In the last decade or so, you’ve seen more and more cases the FBI has gotten involved in with Catholic clergy, in a variety of criminal areas,” she said. Those cases range from sexual abuse to child porn to drug use, she said.
Belczak could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The archdiocese is “still cooperating with civil authorities” in the investigation, spokesman Joe Kohn said.
One of the accusations is that that Belczak failed to deposit or record money given by parishioners to collection plates on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day services, the archdiocese said. Established in 1963, St. Thomas More is one of the biggest churches in Oakland County, with about 2,500 families.
From Detroit Free Press
April 3, 2013 Niraj Warikoo
The FBI has taken over a criminal investigation into whether a popular Catholic priest in Troy embezzled more than $400,000 from his church.
Troy police had been leading the investigation into the Rev. Edward Belczak, 67, who was the pastor at St. Thomas More Parish in Troy for almost 30 years before the Archdiocese of Detroit removed him in January amid questions of financial improprieties.
But a few weeks ago, “the FBI came in and took over,” Troy Police Sgt. Andy Breidenich said Wednesday. Troy police still will handle the health care fraud part of the investigation, Breidenich said.
Belczak is accused of misappropriation of $429,000, using that money to pad his salary, according to the archdiocese.
An audit from the archdiocese alleged that Belczak also may have paid a ghost employee $240,000 over six years, accepted $25,000 that should have been deposited into parish accounts and provided improper medical and dental coverage to a parish member and employee, among other accusations.
The Free Press reported in January that Belczak bought a $500,000 luxury condo in Florida in 2005 from his longtime church manager Janice Verschuren, who also was removed from her position after the investigation became public. It is unclear how Belczak paid for the home. In metro Detroit, Catholic priests’ annual salaries are about $27,500 to the mid-$30,000 range, depending on years of service.
The FBI’s involvement probably “indicates there’s a violation of federal law,” which could include crimes across state lines, said Kathleen McChesney, a management consultant who was previously the third highest ranking FBI agent in the U.S. and was director of child and youth protection at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Most investigations involving priests are dealt with by local law enforcement, McChesney said. But in recent years, the FBI has been investigating more cases.
“In the last decade or so, you’ve seen more and more cases the FBI has gotten involved in with Catholic clergy, in a variety of criminal areas,” she said. Those cases range from sexual abuse to child porn to drug use, she said.
Belczak could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The archdiocese is “still cooperating with civil authorities” in the investigation, spokesman Joe Kohn said.
One of the accusations is that that Belczak failed to deposit or record money given by parishioners to collection plates on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day services, the archdiocese said. Established in 1963, St. Thomas More is one of the biggest churches in Oakland County, with about 2,500 families.
From Detroit Free Press
Indiana Woman Sentenced For Embezzling $410K From Employer
Indy woman gets 29 months for bilking employer
out of more than $400K
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS March 30, 2013 - 4:01 pm EDT
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman
has been sentenced to 29 months in federal prison for allegedly bilking her
former employer out of more than $400,000.
Brenda K. Helpling was sentenced Thursday by a federal judge who also ordered her to pay more than $410,000 in restitution. The 52-year-old had pleaded guilty in November to mail fraud.
Brenda K. Helpling was sentenced Thursday by a federal judge who also ordered her to pay more than $410,000 in restitution. The 52-year-old had pleaded guilty in November to mail fraud.
Court documents show Helpling had been the controller of Frakes Engineering, with check-writing authority over its checking accounts.
She was accused of writing 26 unauthorized checks from its business checking account totaling more than $200,000 and hiding those with fictitious vendors.
Prosecutors said Helpling also wrote 24 checking totaling more than $134,000 from the firm and made payments on her personal credit card accounts. She also used other methods to embezzle another $75,000 from the company.
Maryland Woman Sentenced For Defrauding Savings Bank Out Of $682K In Bogus Loan Scheme
Former Hebron Savings Bank VP Sentenced for Embezzlement
Posted: Mar 15, 2013 8:43 AM EDT By Kye Parsons
BALTIMORE- A former vice president of Hebron Savings Bank in Wicomico County has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzlement and ordered to pay $456,665 in restitution, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
According to her plea agreement, 56-year-old Wanda Henderson of Westover, used her position at the bank, including her role as executive assistant to president, to manipulate bank records and receive fraudulent loans over a period from 2005 until April 2011. Over that period of time, Henderson had secured 20 fraudulent loans for herself and family members worth more than $682,000, with more than $456,000 of that amount going into default, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Henderson created fraudulent loan applications, then got them approved by forging the signatures of the president and other bank officials. She also forged the initials of other employees so the money could be transferred into checking accounts owned by her and a family member, according to prosecutors.
Henderson concealed the thefts from bank officials by changing bank records and taking out new loans to repay older loans when they came due, which allowed her to continue the scheme until April 2011, prosecutors said.
From WBOC16
Posted: Mar 15, 2013 8:43 AM EDT By Kye Parsons
BALTIMORE- A former vice president of Hebron Savings Bank in Wicomico County has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzlement and ordered to pay $456,665 in restitution, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
According to her plea agreement, 56-year-old Wanda Henderson of Westover, used her position at the bank, including her role as executive assistant to president, to manipulate bank records and receive fraudulent loans over a period from 2005 until April 2011. Over that period of time, Henderson had secured 20 fraudulent loans for herself and family members worth more than $682,000, with more than $456,000 of that amount going into default, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Henderson created fraudulent loan applications, then got them approved by forging the signatures of the president and other bank officials. She also forged the initials of other employees so the money could be transferred into checking accounts owned by her and a family member, according to prosecutors.
Henderson concealed the thefts from bank officials by changing bank records and taking out new loans to repay older loans when they came due, which allowed her to continue the scheme until April 2011, prosecutors said.
From WBOC16
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Elderly Maryland Man Sentenced To Jail For Embezzling $415K From Social Security Admin's Employee Association
Jail for 76-Year-Old Ellicott City Man
for Embezzlement, Tax Evasion
Salvatore Petti stole more than $415,000 from the Social Security Administration's employee association.
By Brandie Jefferson
A 76-year-old Ellicott City man was sentenced Wednesday to more than a year in prison for tax evasion and embezzling more than $415,000 from Social Security Administration’s (SSA) employee association, according to a statement released by Maryland’s U.S. Attorney’s office.
Salvatore Petti retired from the SSA as a district director after more than 40 years with the government agency, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. He worked at the Employees Activities Association, which provided health and recreational programs for SSA employees, after his retirement from SSA and from 2005 – 2008 earned $60,000 a year at that job.
According to the State’s Attorney, Petti did not report any of his EAA income to the IRS between 2006 and 2008; by February 1999, he had not reported any income at all since at least 1998.
He avoided having Social Security, Medicare and income taxes taken from his check by classifying himself as an independent contractor, but did not fill out the required Form 1099.
After an audit from the IRS, Petti filed amended tax returns for 2006 – 2009, according to the U.S. Attorney, but he made up expenses “supplies,” “travels,” “utilities,” and “office expenses.”
During the ensuing investigation, the IRS determined Petti had also been embezzling “substantial funds” from the EAA by issuing himself unauthorized checks for “administrative expenses” or “general expenses.” He did not report the $416,134 of addition income on any tax returns.
“Mr. Petti’s act of intentionally under-reporting income on his federal tax returns is unlawful,” Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, said in a statement.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates the collaborative effort between IRS Criminal Investigation and its federal law enforcement partners in bringing individuals to justice who choose to engage in any financial scheme to defraud the American public.”
U.S. District Judge J. Frederic Motz sentenced Petti to 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
From the Ellicott City Patch
Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe
Washington State Municipal Water Clerk Indicted For Embezzling At Least $350K
Former Lake Forest Park Water Clerk Indicted for
Embezzlement
The former employee, Jackee Bormann-Zweekhorst, faces
Federal charges wire fraud charges for allegedly falsifying documents for
personal gain of more than $350,000.
ByJeanne Gustafson
March
29, 2013
The former Office Manager of the Lake Forest Park Water District is being arraigned today on an indictment charging fifteen counts of wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. Jackee Bormann-Zweekhorst, 40, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 2:30 today. The indictment alleges that Bormann-Zweekhorst used a variety of schemes to embezzle more than $350,000 from the small water district between 2004 and 2011.
According to the indictment, Bormann-Zweekhorst was responsible for submitting bills to King County for reimbursement from water district funds. Bormann-Zweekhorst was supposed to prepare the vouchers and supporting documents for the water district commissioners to review and approve. The approved vouchers then went to King County for payment.
Ms. Bormann-Zweekhorst is alleged to have committed fraud through a variety of means. On multiple occasions Bormann-Zweekhorst allegedly falsified time cards so that her children were paid for work never performed for the water district. The amount of money claimed via the falsified time cards was in excess of $100,000.
The inconsistencies were first uncovered by a state audit of the Water District, which the district cooperated with, resulting in an investigation by Lake Forest Police and subsequent termination of Bormann-Zweekhorst by the district.
The second aspect of the scheme involved the use of the water district credit card. Bormann-Zweekhorst used the card to pay for personal items and then caused the payment of water district funds to pay the bill. Some of the expenses she billed to the water district card included college tuition for her child, hot tub parts and service, boating and automotive equipment, fishing gear and rental car expenses. The amount of fraud on the water district credit card exceeded $90,000. The final aspect of fraud was having the water district pay for personal items purchased with her American Express card and for other personal expenses, by claiming the expenses were work-related, when in fact, they were not. Many of the receipts submitted for reimbursement were fabricated to support purchases that never occurred. Bormann-Zweekhorstsought reimbursement for more than $70,000 in personal items and for items never purchased through this aspect of the fraud.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Lake Forest Park Police Department. Significant assistance is being provided by the Washington State Auditor’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Diggs.
From the Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Patch
Hat tip: FraudTalk readers Julie and Joe
Former Teller At Mississippi Bank Sentenced For Embezzling $117K
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
GULFPORT -- A former teller at a Picayune bank has been ordered to repay more than $117,000 she helped steal from the bank's vault over a year's time.
U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden on Wednesday also sentenced Debra Mitchell to six months in prison, six months of house arrest and two years of post-release supervision.
The money was taken from Union Planters Bank between April 2004 and February 2005 before Regions Bank bought out Union Planters.
Mitchell, 43, of Carriere, is remorseful, said her attorney, Rufus Alldredge.
"She can't explain why she did it," Alldredge said. "She wasn't raised that way. She grew up in church and is in church now. But as soon as the FBI called her, she called me and we went to the FBI together, and she cooperated fully, pleading guilty to a criminal complaint instead of waiting to be indicted."
Mitchell, also known as Debra Wesselman, must report to prison within 60 days.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to bank fraud in December. A restitution order requires her to repay $117,883.25, the full amount she stole along with former head teller Vonetta Jordan.
Jordan, 37, of Poplarville, will be sentenced May 23. Jordan was indicted on 14 counts and has pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. She faces up to 30 years in prison.
From The Biloxi-Gulfport Sun Herald
Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.
Update (5/23/13): Vonetta Jordan, 37, was sentenced to 17 months in prison for bank fraud and ordered to repay $117,883.25.
U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden on Wednesday also sentenced Debra Mitchell to six months in prison, six months of house arrest and two years of post-release supervision.
The money was taken from Union Planters Bank between April 2004 and February 2005 before Regions Bank bought out Union Planters.
Mitchell, 43, of Carriere, is remorseful, said her attorney, Rufus Alldredge.
"She can't explain why she did it," Alldredge said. "She wasn't raised that way. She grew up in church and is in church now. But as soon as the FBI called her, she called me and we went to the FBI together, and she cooperated fully, pleading guilty to a criminal complaint instead of waiting to be indicted."
Mitchell, also known as Debra Wesselman, must report to prison within 60 days.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to bank fraud in December. A restitution order requires her to repay $117,883.25, the full amount she stole along with former head teller Vonetta Jordan.
Jordan, 37, of Poplarville, will be sentenced May 23. Jordan was indicted on 14 counts and has pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. She faces up to 30 years in prison.
From The Biloxi-Gulfport Sun Herald
Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.
Update (5/23/13): Vonetta Jordan, 37, was sentenced to 17 months in prison for bank fraud and ordered to repay $117,883.25.
California Bookeeper Pleads Guilty In $309K Embezzlement Case
SACRAMENTO, CA - An Elk Grove woman pled guilty to cashing altered and stolen checks of a Sacramento business on Thursday.
Ladonna Faye Chandler, 54, was charged with 12 counts of felony bank fraud, said Lauren Horwood spokesperson for U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California.
Chandler used to be a bookkeeper for Platinum Services LLC, a commercial janitorial service. She was in charge of the company's finances: Issuing checks for expenditures, depositing checks, transfer funds between accounts and receiving checks and payments from clients, Horwood said.
Court documents show Chandler used her access to the funds and altered the checks to obtain $309,369 for personal use.
Chandler faces 30 years in prison for each count. Her sentencing is scheduled for June 27.
From News10/KXTV
Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.
Ladonna Faye Chandler, 54, was charged with 12 counts of felony bank fraud, said Lauren Horwood spokesperson for U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California.
Chandler used to be a bookkeeper for Platinum Services LLC, a commercial janitorial service. She was in charge of the company's finances: Issuing checks for expenditures, depositing checks, transfer funds between accounts and receiving checks and payments from clients, Horwood said.
Court documents show Chandler used her access to the funds and altered the checks to obtain $309,369 for personal use.
Chandler faces 30 years in prison for each count. Her sentencing is scheduled for June 27.
From News10/KXTV
Hat tip: FraudTalk reader Joe.
New York Woman Sentenced For Embezzling $338K From Gay Community Center
Sobbing ex-head of Bronx gay community
center sentenced to at least 2 years in prison for stealing funds
By DOUGLAS MONTERO
Last Updated:
4:54 PM, April 1, 2013
Posted: 11:54 AM, April 1, 2013
The disgraced former
head of a Bronx gay community center sobbed in court today -- apologizing and
making excuses -- before she was sentenced to at least two years behind bars
for embezzlement.
Blubbering Lisa Winters
was led away in cuffs after Bronx Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus signed
off a deal that’ll keep her locked up for two to six years.
She pleaded guilty to
second-degree larceny on Feb. 14, in connection to her $338,000 rip-off of the
Bronx Community Pride Center.
Winters siphoned the
money to pay for personal expenses such as a dog walker and expensive meals.
“I’m so sorry to all the
people that I hurt,” Winters said through a flood of tears. “I’m so sorry for
all the harm I caused.”
Even in apologizing,
Winters made excuses for the embezzlement and hid behind her mom.
“I can’t believe I’m in
this position,” she said. “My mom was dying, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
The judge didn’t buy any
of Winters’ tearful explanations and called her crimes a “betrayal of trust.”
“I’m amazed you are in
the position you are in now,” he said. “There was absolutely no excuse.”
The Bronx Community
Pride Center closed this past summer after 16 years of operation. Board members
said “economic difficulties, past debt and inability to raise” funds led to the
center’s closing.
From the New York Post
California Woman Pleads Not Guilty To Charges She Embezzled More Than $200K From Seminary
|
Ex-director of St.
Patrick's Seminary pleads not guilty to embezzlement, DA says
Posted:
|
MercuryNews.com
|
REDWOOD CITY -- A Hayward woman who was the finance head of a Peninsula seminary when she allegedly took over $200,000 and a donated Mercedes from the school has pleaded not guilty to embezzlement, a prosecutor said Monday.
Jennifer Margret Morris, who worked at St. Patrick's Seminary &
University in Menlo Park, entered her plea Friday in San Mateo County Superior
Court, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
The 57-year-old former finance director, who is out of jail after posting a $200,000 bond, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Prosecutors say Morris reimbursed herself with school money for over $166,000 in unauthorized personal purchases, overpaid herself by $36,000 in 2011-12 and stole a 1982 Mercedes-Benz that had been donated to the school.
Prosecutors have also charged Morris' secretary, 44-year-old Evelyn D.
Vallacqua, with taking part in the scam. Vallacqua allegedly helped issue many
of the improper reimbursement checks to Morris and received unauthorized
severance payments. She faces three counts of felony embezzlement and is due to
be arraigned in San Mateo County Superior Court on April 30, Wagstaffe said.
In addition to registering the donated Mercedes in her name, Morris also charged Department of Motor Vehicle and maintenance costs to the school, prosecutors say. Morris faces four felony counts of embezzlement, Wagstaffe said.
From the San Jose Mercury News
The 57-year-old former finance director, who is out of jail after posting a $200,000 bond, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Prosecutors say Morris reimbursed herself with school money for over $166,000 in unauthorized personal purchases, overpaid herself by $36,000 in 2011-12 and stole a 1982 Mercedes-Benz that had been donated to the school.
The thefts, which happened from 2006-2012, were
discovered when St. Patrick's learned Morris had been using her personal credit
card to make work purchases and then was reimbursing herself, according to
prosecutors. Even though she had a work-issued credit card, she made the
purchases with her personal one in order to collect airline miles, Morris
allegedly told her employers.
In addition to registering the donated Mercedes in her name, Morris also charged Department of Motor Vehicle and maintenance costs to the school, prosecutors say. Morris faces four felony counts of embezzlement, Wagstaffe said.
From the San Jose Mercury News
Kansas Woman Sentenced For $561K Embezzlement
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A northeast Kansas woman is going to federal prison
for embezzling more than $561,000 from the Missouri company where she worked
for 14 years.
The U.S. Attorney's office says 53-year-old Paula Cathey, of Leavenworth,
was sentenced Monday to three years and five months in prison. She was also
ordered to pay about $557,000 in restitution.
Cathey was the controller for Mega Industries Inc., a heavy-construction
company located in North Kansas City, Mo.
She pleaded guilty last October to 15 counts of bank fraud, admitting she
wrote unauthorized company checks to herself and forged the signatures of
company officers.
Prosecutors said Cathey used the stolen money mostly for gambling. She hid
the crimes partly by destroying most of the company's monthly bank statements.
From AP
Nebraska Soccer Club Apparent Victim of $150K Embezzlement
Sarpy County soccer club might be victim of $150,000 embezzlement
by Maggie O'Brien World-Herald News Service | Posted: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 3:50 pmOMAHA - Bellevue police are investigating whether a youth soccer club was the victim of a $150,000 embezzlement scheme.
The Phoenix Futbol Club discovered financial irregularities after a new treasurer performed an audit, said the club's attorney, Bill Bianco of Omaha.
"With the assistance of our accountants, the IRS and our attorney, we have determined that over $150,000 in club funds were misappropriated," the board wrote in a letter to parents and supporters.
Bianco said police began investigating in January. Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said Tuesday that he would review the case once the investigation is complete.
Polikov did not identify the person at the center of the investigation, but Bianco said it is a former board member.
The club is open to ages 5 to 19. It has 24 teams – and 300 kids – from across the Omaha metro area.
The board wrote in its letter that the investigation would not interfere with the season, either for players or the club: "Our club will continue to grow, improve and exceed your expectations for a quality soccer program."
From the Lexington Clipper Herald
Late President of Vermont College Faces New Accusations In $550K Embezzlement Case
 |
| James Beckwith |
The Bennington Banner reports federal authorities now allege that Beckwith embezzled $110,000 in addition to the $440,000 he's already accused of taking from the school.
Beckwith was found dead at his South Londonderry home on February 20 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He worked at the college since 2007.
He resigned after he was questioned about the thefts.
From WNYT
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