U.S. Attorney for SDNY Announces Arrest of Former Hitachi HR Exec for Embezzlement and Fraud

Earlier this week the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the arrest of Dennis Dowd, former senior manager of human resources for Hitachi America, a New York and
California-based electronics manufacturer, in connection with a scheme to embezzle approximately $8 million.

Briefly, according to the complaint, Hitachi America maintained a plan to provide health benefits to eligible employees. Dowd was a senior manager of corporate benefits for Hitachi until March of this year responsible for managing various aspects of Hitachi’s employee benefits programs, including the health benefits plan. In January 1997, Dowd opened a bank account in the name of a fictitious entity into which he later deposited millions of dollars in payments for insurance claims belonging to the health benefits plan.

Dowd diverted the funds in the bank account he created to pay for personal expenses related to himself and his family, including, among other things, consumer goods, luxury cars, and a house in Vero Beach, Florida.

Dowd was charged with one count of embezzlement, one count of fraud, and one count of money laundering. He faces a total maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment if convicted.

Massachusetts Woman Sentenced for Embezzling Over $1 Million

The District Attorney for the District of Massachusetts announed in late October that Grace Oliver, of Acushnet, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 46 months incarceration on charges of possessing forged securities of a corporation engaged in interstate commerce.

Oliver had earlier pled guilty, on August 6, 2007, to embezzling funds from her employer, Superior Drywall in Westport, where she served as a bookkeeper from January 2004 to December 2006.  Oliver forged 447 company checks payable to herself, as well as her credit card companies, mortgage holders, and others to whom she owed money. Oliver secretly prepared the checks and forged the signature of the company’s principal owner. Oliver deposited some of the checks into her personal bank accounts, others she used to transfer money to her friends and associates. Oliver covered up her scheme entering false payee information into the company’s accounting software, to make it look as if the checks were legitimate. Over the course of the scheme, Oliver embezzled a total of over $1.1 million.

See the full release

Union Officials Indicted on Federal Embezzlement Charges

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota recently announced that three former union officials were indicted by a federal grand jury on embezzlement charges. The three had used their financial positions at the union to embezzle union funds for personal use.

See the full release here.

Former Patterson-UTI Energy CFO Sentenced to 25 Years Imprisonment for $77 Million Embezzlement

We've followed the ongoing saga of Jonathan D. Nelson, the former CFO of Patterson-UTI Energy who embezzled more than $77 million from the company.

The District Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced on October 10, 2006 that Nelson was sentenced to a prison term of 25 years after pleading guilty.

Nelson's perpetrated his embezzlement using forged checks, bogus invoices and other schemes.

See the full release here.

Kentucky District Attorney Obtains Guilty Plea on Bank Embezzlement

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky announced recently that a Florida man had pleaded guilty to embezzling over $42,000 from two Kentucky banks where he had been an employee.

See the full release here.

3 Florida Men Plead Guilty to $35 Million Embezzlement

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida announced that three defendants, William Scott Deloach, Maria Garcia, and Rosario Licata, have pleaded guilty to charges that they engaged in a long-term scheme to embezzle over $35 million from their former employer, PBSJ Corp.  PBSJ is an employee-owned national engineering and construction firm that provides a myriad of services in transportation, environmental, civil engineering, and construction management.

According to documents filed with the court during the plea hearing, from 1992 to March 2005, defendants Deloach, Garcia, and Licata, formerly senior financial executives at PBSJ, embezzled millions of dollars from the company via schemes involving the issuance of millions of dollars in unauthorized checks or transfers written on PBSJ accounts.

See the full release here.

Comerica Bank Manager Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan announced recently that a Comerica assistant bank manager has plead guilty to embezzling over $360,000 from bank accounts belonging to his elderly and deceased clients. The manager stole the money by closing or depleting CD and IRA accounts belonging to the victims, without their knowledge, and then depositing the funds into his personal account. The manager then attempted to conceal his fraud by forging withdrawal slips and destroying bank surveillance tapes.

See the full release here (PDF)

U.S Attorney in Wisconsin Announces Embezzlement Indictments

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin recently announced 4 indictments arising from embezzlement at Milwaukee-area banks, including a former employee at M&I Trust Company in Milwaukee, charged with stealing $31, 985 from a customer 401(k) account; a former bank teller, accused of embezzling $16,900 from M&I Bank through false account entries; a former supervisor at Metavante Corporation, a subsidiary of M&I Bank, charged with wrongfully obtaining $27,675 by stealing checks intended for a clearing system at Metavante; and a former bank teller at TCF Bank in Milwaukee, accused of embezzling $22,972 through fraudulent ledger entries.

See the full release here (PDF).

Pennsylvania Man Charged With Embezzling over $733,000 From Wachovia

United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently announced the filing of an indictment against Dean Henry Smith charging that he embezzled over $733,000 between 2003 and June 9, 2006, while an employee of Wachovia’s Institutional Trust Services Department.

See the indictment here and the release here.

Former President of Labor Union Sentenced for Embezzling Funds

The United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, recently announced that Lynn R. Lanphear, age 63, of Pittsford, New York, was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $9,441.29 in connection with his guilty plea on June 12, 2006, to embezzlement from a labor union.

See the full release here (PDF).