2010 was the year of the woman in many ways including being the primary stars of this post. Thanks to these featured greedy few, women can no longer claim the moral high ground when it comes to gender issues. As some visitors may be aware, I've been providing an ongoing multi part blog story on those charged with or convicted of embezzlement over the past few months. A few days ago Marquet International Ltd. announced it released the 2010 Marquet Report on Embezzlement, an annual study of major embezzlement cases in the United States. The study consisted of 485 active cases in the U.S. with more than $100,000 in reported losses. Here's a few noteworthy findings from the study:
- The average loss was nearly $1 million
- The most common embezzlement scheme involved the forgery or unauthorized issuance of company checks
- Two-thirds of the incidents were committed by employees who held finance & accounting positions
- The average scheme lasted more than 4½ years
- The average prison sentence for major embezzlers was just under 4 years
- Nearly 2/3 of all incidents involved female perpetrators
- Nearly 20 percent of all losses were inflicted upon financial institutions
The study also reported some conclusions Marquet derived by combining the data from past three years’ reports:
- Women are more likely to embezzle on a large scale than men.
- Men embezzle significantly more than women per scheme.
- Perpetrators typically begin their embezzlement schemes in their early 40s.
- By a significant margin, embezzlers are most likely to be individuals who hold financial positions within organizations.
- The Financial Services industry suffers the greatest losses from major embezzlements.
- Gambling is a clear motivating factor in driving some major embezzlement cases.
- Only about 5 percent of major embezzlers have a prior criminal history.
“Rather than stealing because they have severe financial problems, we found that most major embezzlers appear to be driven by greed or a need to live a lifestyle much more lavish than they could not otherwise achieve,” said Marquet. He added, “While the bad economy may have had something to do with the large number of cases we identified, there are other drivers motivating these white collar criminals and there is always an ambient level of fraud, theft, waste and abuse in any organization.” - Christopher T. Marquet, CEO of Marquet International.More stories from the Fraud Talk blog:
Former Law Firm Office Manager In California Charged With Embezzling More Than $480K
Donna Joy Henderson, 67, of Orange, California, has been charged with embezzling more than $480,000 from the law firm of Rinos & Martin, LLP, where she had been employed as office manager with bookkeeping responsibilities. According to authorities, Henderson wrote at least 122 law firm checks payable to herself, cash, personal credit cards, relatives or fictitious businesses and depositing them into her personal bank accounts. The scheme spanned more than 6 1/2 years from January 2003 and September 2009. Henderson has been charged with 14 felony counts of falsifying records and one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement. The scheme was discovered when a new accountant was hired and noticed checks that had been voided were written out to Henderson. She faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted. According to authorities, Henderson is believed to have spent the stolen money to support a lavish lifestyle, including timeshare properties, cruises, home shopping network jewelry and collectibles, home improvements, indoor sauna, pampered pet day spas visits, and gambling. She was arrested January 5th following an investigation by the Tustin Police Department.Read the story here and here.
Read the Orange County D.A.'s announcement here.
Oklahoma Woman Charged With Embezzling $1.4 Million
Tonya Lynn Seiger, 45, of Enid, Oklahoma, has been charged with embezzling some $1.4 million from Gillilland Oil and Gas Company where she had been employed as a bookkeeper. According to authorities, Seiger would issue company checks to herself or her husband's company, R and T Pump and Supply. Seiger's scheme spanned a 2 year period. She is reported to have spent the money on a gambling habit. According to reports, Seiger also stole from R and T Pump as well as from her son.Maryland Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $104K
Lucy Lynn Bradburn, 43, of Ridge, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud charges in connection with her embezzlement of $104,926 from IAP World Services, Inc., where she was employed as a senior accountant and supply administrator in charge of vendor payments. According to authorities, over a 7 year period from November 2002 until December 2009, Bradburn submitted 44 bogus requests for purported vendor payments to Sears. These payments actually went to Bradburn's own personal Sears account. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.Read the DOJ announcement here.
Former Pennsylvania County Official Charged With Embezzling $347K
Vickie L. Glatfelter, 49, of Dover Township, Pennsylvania, has been charged with embezzling $347,477 from York County, Pennsylvania where she had served as assistant chief clerk. According to authorities, over a period of more than 7 years, from June 2003 to September 2010, Glatfelter committed 808 separate thefts of refunds for postage meter overcharges that she engineered, depositing the funds into her own accounts. Glatfelter had been employed by the county for some 27years.
North Carolina Woman Charged With Embezzling Nearly $200K From Medical Office
Deborah Jean Holland, believed to be in her mid-40s, of Goldsboro, North Carolina was arrested today on charges she embezzled nearly $200,000 from the Goldsboro OB-GYN medical office where she had been employed as office manager. According to authorities, over more than 5 years, from March 2005 until October 2010, Holland made numerous fraudulent credit card and company check purchases for her own benefit.Nevada Woman Sentenced For Embezzling More Than $400K
Mary Anne Mattoon, believed to be in her late 40s, of Reno, Nevada, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for embezzling at least $400,000 from NevDex Properties, where she had been employed as office manager. According to authorities, over a six year period between 2002 and 2008, Mattoon altered the company payroll to pay her additional salary - as much as $90,000 more in one year. Mattoon reportedly spent the stolen money on personal luxury items, shopping sprees, a horse trailer and a motorcycle business she started. Meanwhile she convinced company owners that they had to lay off workers due to the poor finances of the company. Separately, in 2008, the company won a civil judgment against Mattoon ordering her to pay more than $1 million back to the company. The state filed criminal charges against her in July 2010.Read the story here.
Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty To Charges He Embezzled $5 Million From University
Stephen C. Greb, 58, of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to charges he embezzled some $5 million from La Salle University where he oversaw the institution's food services. According to authorities, Greb created a fictitious food vendor called Sunshine Foods and then authorized payments over a period of at least 20 years. The scheme was discovered after the university put in place a new and enhanced invoice control system.
Read the story here, here and here.
Fore more information, visit Marquet International Ltd.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated.