Former University President Charged With Misuse of School's Funds Blocked From Teaching Accounting

The White Collar Crime Prof blog posted earlier this week about the interesting case of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade who faces criminal charges against her arising from alleged misuse of University funds for her personal expenses.  Slade was fired as president earlier in 2006 because of the alleged financial improprieties, but retained her tenured position as a professor of accounting and was scheduled to teach courses this term.  The resulting uproar led the acting president to block Slade from teaching the courses, and to place her on paid leave while a committee reviews whether to strip her of tenure and remove her from the faculty.

U.S. Attorney to Appeal Sentence of Former WalMart Exec Tom Coughlin

In the ongoing saga of Walmart executive Tom Coughlin, we only recently reported that Couglin was sentenced to home confinement after pleading guilty to charges that he defrauded the company by submitting fake invoices. 

The latest update, reported yesterday by the White Collar Crime Prof (WCCP) blog (see here), is an announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas that it will appeal the sentence.  According to the WCCP blog, while the Federal Sentencing Guidelines called for a sentence in the 24-30 month range, U.S. District Judge Robert Dawson sentenced Coughlin to 27 months of home confinement based on his findings that Coughlin's serious health issues warranted home confinement, and that his charitable works and the effect of his guilty plea on his standing in the community, among other things, were sufficient punishment and that a prison term was not necessary to fulfill the goals of sentencing.

Teller Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Coins

Linda Fossum, a former head vault teller at a Wisconsin branch of U.S. Bank, pleaded guilty recently to embezzling about $40,000 in coins over seven years.

See the full story here.

Former Staples executive charged with embezzlement

A former Staples vice president has been charged with embezzling more than $550,00 from the company in connection with the submission of fraudulent invoices and improper use of corporate American Express cards to charge personal expenses.

See the full story here.

Embezzler Free on Bail Posted by His Wife and...Mistress

The Wall Street Journal Law blog had an amusing post today about Yoshio Yamaki, a Japanese businessman who has been charged with embezzling more than $7 million from camera company Sigma USA.  Yamaki walked out of the federal courthouse in Brooklyn after two women - who identified themselves to the judge as Yamaki's wife and mistress, respectively - posted a $350,000 bond.  The judge's reaction: "Mr. Yamaki, I just want to say you’re an incredibly lucky man."

Yonkers bookkeeper pleads guilty to embezzlement

Wayne Diecchio, a bookkeeper from Yonkers pleaded guilty recently to embezzling more than $76,000 over a 5 1/2-year period from a temporary employment agency.  Diecchio stole the money by making numerous unauthorized ATM withdrawals, writing unearned petty cash and payroll checks to himself, and paying his personal credit card debts through electronic transfers from company funds. According to a statement from the District Attorney, Diecchio's thefts caused the company to go out of business.

See the full story here.

Former brokerage CEO indicted for embezzlement scheme

The former chief executive officer of DreamLife Financial (a financial services business based in California), Tony Daniloo, was indicted last Thursday in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners of $7 million.  Federal prosecutors say that Daniloo embezzled money from real estate clients by altering client's escrow documents and depositing large amounts of their cash into his personal accounts.

See the full story here.

Bookkeeper Embezzles $2.3 Million to Buy Lottery Tickets

The White Collar Crime Prof Blog recently shared the story of Annie Donnelly who entered a guilty plea to embezzling $2.3 million from her employer, a medical practice, to buy lottery tickets over the past three years.  WCCPB reports that Donnelly was buying upwards of $6,000 worth of tickets a day, but questions why she even bothered when stealing $2.3 million without being noticed is pretty much the same thing as winning the lottery??!! : - )

See the WCCPB post here.

Prominent Nevada Lawyer sentenced in Casino embezzlement case

We've been covering the embezzlement case of casino lawyer Richard Davenport; see most recent post here. 

Last Thursday, Davenport, who admitted to embezzling $3.1 million from John Ascuaga's Nugget casino over a 12 year period, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with parole possible after serving four.

Before sentencing, Davenport apologized to the Ascuaga family for "a betrayal that cuts deep." 

See the full story here.

Former District School Manager Sentenced for Embezzlement

The former business manager of a school district in Idaho who admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from district accounts, was sentenced on Monday.

See the full story here.