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Showing posts from March, 2023

Ex-treasurer Convicted For Embezzlement From Hancock-area Organizations

Thursday, a man from the Hancock region was given a jail sentence of 18 months for misusing $50,443 that belonged to two community organizations. Mark K. Boyer, the Circuit Court Judge of Washington County, refused the defense's plea for a postponement of sentencing, citing that John P. True had not done enough to reimburse the Tonoloway Rod & Gun Club located near Hancock and the James W. Bowers Masonic Lodge of the same city. In October, as per court documents, True submitted an Alford plea to the accusation of fraudulently and deliberately misappropriating funds from both organizations. True had been the treasurer for both groups prior. An Alford plea does not affirm guilt but concedes that the prosecution has sufficient proof to guarantee a conviction. The plea agreement led to the dismissal of felony theft charges and other counts. Boyer declared on Thursday that, though he's uncertain where the funds that True had wrongfully taken had gone to, he was not confident tha...

Hickory Flat Town Clerk Charged With Embezzlement

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Stephanie Churchill, the former Town Clerk of Hickory Flat, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement in Benton County Circuit Court. Churchill was found guilty of not depositing the funds collected from water and sewage bills from October 2018 through February 2021 and was ordered to pay $55,850.42 in restitution and other court fees. State Auditor Shad White announced that Churchill embezzled $104,256.92 from Hickory Flat Water and Sewage Department funds. White's office recovered $50,000 from a surety bond company and returned it back to Hickory Flat taxpayers. Churchill was indicted and arrested for embezzlement in April 2022. Stephanie Churchill, the former Town Clerk of Hickory Flat, was indicted and arrested on embezzlement charges in April 2022. She recently pleaded guilty to embezzling public funds from the Hickory Flat Water and Sewage Department in Benton County Circuit Court. Over a period of two years, Churchill failed to deposit the collected funds from water and sewage bill...

Former CEO of Youth Policy Institute Agrees to Plead Guilty to Embezzlement

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  Howard Slingerland, the former president and CEO of the Hollywood-based anti-poverty nonprofit agency Youth Policy Institute Inc. is set to plead guilty on Wednesday to federal criminal charges. He is accused of misappropriating over $600,000 in grant money and lying on his tax returns. In addition, Slingerland had check-signing authority over the agency's bank accounts and was the personal guarantor of their credit card. He allegedly spent $71,533 of YPI funds on unauthorized expenditures, such as his property tax bill and family dinner in New York City. He also allegedly used $401,561 and $201,466 of federal grant money to pay off YPI's credit card bill and his own expenses. Additionally, Slingerland admitted to underreporting more than $100,000 in income yearly from YPI without reporting the money he obtained from YPI, including the embezzlement. As a result, he is expected to owe the United States Treasury a total of $147,398 in unpaid taxes. Upon pleading guilty, Slinger...

Former senior services worker charged with embezzlement from 96-year-old man

 Denise Dee Kolkmeyer, 70, of Bloomfield Township, was arraigned in 48th District Court, charged with embezzlement of a vulnerable adult of $100,000 or more. She was released on a personal bond by District Judge Kimberly Small. Kolkmeyer's attorney, Robert Morad, has said the 96-year-old man, for whom she had been performing duties as an employee of the Bloomfield Township Senior Services Department, intended to leave his house to her. However, a lawsuit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court alleges that Kolkmeyer misled him into signing documents granting her power of attorney and a transfer deed with rights of survivorship. The man's attorneys, Brett Baccari and Jonathan Marko say she had engaged in a grooming scheme. According to Zillow, the man's house is valued between $300,000 and $360,000. The lawsuit names Kolkmeyer and her husband, the attorney who drew up the documents, and the attorney's law firm as defendants and asks for compensatory and punitive damages, i...

California Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement More Than $1 Million from Her Employer

 Mai Houa Xiong of Fresno, California, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and filing a false tax return after stealing more than one million dollars from her employer. Xiong was a financial manager of a property management company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her duties included bookkeeping, and she had access to the victim associations' finances, bank accounts, and vendor payments. From February 2015 to February 2022, she transferred money directly into her personal bank accounts and made cash withdrawals from the HOAs' accounts, even after being fired in July 2021. Additionally, Xiong unlawfully collected Unemployment Insurance funds after she had found new employment. Her guilty plea was entered in U.S. District Court before Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz. The investigation was conducted by the IRS, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Minneapolis Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison K. Ethen is prosecuting the case. Utiliz...

Former Panama City department head sentenced after embezzling more than $1 million

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 Michael Johnson, a former Panama City department head, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzling over one million dollars from the city. He was facing a maximum of 155 years in prison. Johnson had resigned as head of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) five months prior. Through his embezzlement, he was able to acquire eleven homes and three cars with ASAP funds. He also stole over $100,000 from the CRA, which he was in charge of. His misappropriation of funds occurred over a period of ten years. When the crime was initially discovered, it was reported that Johnson had bought four cars, but one could not be traced back to the stolen money. The eleven homes and three cars are now valued at over $900,000. Other property that was confiscated included $113,000 from his home, $370,000 from four of his bank accounts, $25,000 from his vacation, sick pay, and final paycheck. Johnson also agreed to forfeit around $330,000 from his government retirement account but wil...

Former Goldman Sachs Employee Receives 10-Year Sentence in 1MDB Embezzlement Scandal

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On March 9, 2023, Roger Ng, formerly of Goldman Sachs, left the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse after being sentenced for his involvement with embezzling from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng left the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse after being sentenced for his part in embezzling from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, in Brooklyn, New York, on March 9, 2023. After being sentenced for his role in Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund embezzlement, Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker, left the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York. Roger Ng, a former banker for Goldman Sachs, finalized his sentence of 10 years in prison on Thursday due to his role in abetting the misappropriation of billions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. In April of last year, a jury in Brooklyn, New York's federal court ruled that Ng, formerly Goldman Sachs' head of investment banking in Malaysia, was guilty of aidi...

Dubai Hotel Group Employees Convicted of Embezzlement From Their Employer's Bank Accounts

 A huge Dubai hotel group embezzlement scheme has been acquitted following 14 out of 43 people who were charged. The court records show that the defendants--including private companies and former employees-- stole money from the company during the two-year period. During this period, the defendants stole money from the company. The defendants included employees from Egypt, Lebanon, Ireland, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Austria, Kenya, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong, between the ages of 31 and 56, in accounting and IT positions. Between October 2016 and August 2018, the accused employees allegedly agreed to transfer sums of cash from their employer's bank accounts to other companies accounts. Prosecutors said that by forging the IBAN numbers in payment receipts, they diverted more than 26 bank transfers. When they received payments, they deleted the IBAN and account numbers of the companies and added legitimate account numbers to avoid being caught. An internal a...

Pasadena Chamber of Commerce financial director accused of embezzling $1.6 million

Court documents allege that Jamie Huffar, aged 46 and the financial director of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, has misappropriated $1.6 million over the course of five years. The accusations suggest that Huffar spent the money on extravagant vacations and plastic surgery. Huffar faces a series of charges, including false statements to obtain credit, fraudulent use or possession of identifying information, misapplication of fiduciary property or property of a financial institution, and two counts of forgery of a financial instrument. According to the charging documents, Huffar allegedly obtained a loan in the name of the Chamber of Commerce president on April 28, 2022, for an amount ranging from $30,000 to $150,000. Additionally, she is accused of forging signatures on July 23, 2021, in order to obtain at least $300,000. According to a lawsuit brought by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, Jamie Huffar, in her capacity as a financial director, allegedly engaged in fraudulent activities...

Iowa Man Charged With Embezzling From Lincoln Trucking Company

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 Bradley Brown, a 43-year-old man from Ackworth, Iowa, has been charged with theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception for allegedly stealing money from a Lincoln-based trucking company where he used to be employed. According to authorities, the owner of M&D Trucking reported that Brown embezzled more than $340,000 from the company. The owner became suspicious of Brown's activities after observing payroll and fuel card transaction discrepancies. Brown surrendered himself to authorities.  . Utilizing a professional investigator to conduct #backgroundcheck should be part of your SOP, not just when problems arise. Good leadership has a proactive approach to managing their investment.  Invetech LLC  helps clients mitigate financial loss by providing actionable insight solutions with due diligence investigation.

Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $304,903 From Labor Union

A Press release by the Department of Justice reported that United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg has announced that Denise E. Kovacs of Clermont has pleaded guilty to embezzlement. Kovacs was the bookkeeper at Plumbers AFL-CIO Local 803, a labor union representing plumbers and pipefitters in central Florida. During her nearly five-year period of employment, Kovacs embezzled $43,777 in cash from union dues and charged $261,126 in expenses on the union’s credit card. Kovacs altered internal business records to conceal her theft and keep union officials uninformed of her ongoing embezzlement of funds. Kovacs faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, and her sentencing is scheduled for June 21, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger. The Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards investigated the case and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Felicetta. The importance of due diligence background investigations can be ...

Former Bank Executive Confesses To Embezzlement

 A former executive of the United Bank of Michigan has confessed to committing theft amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. John Figg, aged 56 and a resident of Grand Rapids, pleaded guilty to charges of embezzlement by a bank employee and tax evasion in a federal court on Monday. According to federal investigators, Figg abused his position as a senior vice president at United Bank, headquartered in Grand Rapids, to misappropriate approximately $870,000 between 2014 and 2021.  He did this by using the names of clients to obtain loans and then either keeping the money for himself or collecting loan closing fees that the bank would normally receive. In other instances, he simply withdrew money from clients' accounts without their knowledge. Additionally, Figg did not report the stolen money on his tax returns, which means that the federal government could also charge him with tax evasion. A date for sentencing has not yet been set. If convicted of embezzlement, Figg coul...