Tag: Office Manager

Missouri Office Manager Charged With Stealing From Dental Firm

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Editor’s note:

Prosperident Senior Fraud Examiner Amber Weber was the lead investigator in this case.

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The office manager of a dental firm in Carthage stands accused of misappropriating more than $100,000 of the firm’s funds by allegedly skimming from cash receipts, overpaying herself and using the firm’s credit cards to make unauthorized purchases for herself and others.

Miranda Wolf, 43, of rural Joplin, was charged Dec. 21 in Jasper County Circuit Court with three counts of felony stealing following an investigation by Carthage police. She posted a $2,000 bond this week and was released pending a court appearance on Jan. 13.

Miranda Wolf

A probable-cause affidavit filed with the charges alleges that Wolf stole from Cornerstone Dental in Carthage while working as office manager there from 2017 to January 2020. Her responsibilities included the handling of the firm’s payroll, cash deposits and credit card and Amazon accounts, according to the affidavit.

During her tenure at Cornerstone Dental, Wolf allegedly failed to deposit in the firm’s bank account $59,421.14 in cash that customers paid to the firm. The affidavit states that she admitted to an investigator that she had skimmed the money from the firm’s cash flow.

She also purportedly gave herself a raise in 2019 that continued into January 2020 without the knowledge or approval of the firm’s owners. The change she made to payroll added $44,823.19 to her pay in 2019 and another $2,702.32 in 2020, according to the affidavit. The self-awarded raise also resulted in increases of the firm’s contribution to her retirement fund by $1,050.12 and of FICA contributions by $3,635.70.

The unauthorized purchases of items for herself and others made with the firm’s credit cards totaled $27,765.80, according to the affidavit. She also purportedly sponsored an acquaintance’s events with funds taken from the firm’s account without the owners’ consent.

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Content retrieved from https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/crime_and_courts/office-manager-charged-with-stealing-from-carthage-dental-firm/article_67c2c49e-065c-58dd-9e44-4e1da33e898d.html

Upstate NY Dental Office Manager Charged With Stealing From Work

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nicole-bolduc QUEENSBURY – A 33-year-old Fort Ann woman was arrested this week on a charge she stole more than $8,000 from the dental office where she was employed, police said.
Nicole Bolduc was charged Friday with fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, in connection with the theft of money from Aspen Dental in Queensbury, where she worked as an office manager, according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

 Bolduc was accused of taking cash that was paid by patients for dental services, and altering billing information in the computer to cover the theft, police said.

Aspen Dental discovered the theft during a recent audit, said sheriff’s Lt. C. Shawn Lamouree. She is no longer employed by the office, he said.

Bolduc was arraigned in Queensbury Town Court and released on her own recognizance. The case was investigated by sheriff’s Investigator Mo Aldrich and Patrol Officer Terri Jeffords.

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Content retrieved from http://poststar.com/news/latest/dental-office-manager-charged-with-stealing-from-work/article_745ffafb-a7cf-5552-9f51-21d00730c529.html

Illinois Office Manager Sentenced To 15 Months For Embezzling $250k

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CHICAGO — The former manager of a Mundelein dental office was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison for bilking insurers out of about $250,000 over 14 years by billing mostly for work never performed on patients.

“I’ve never even had a parking ticket,” Denise L. Sullivan, 43, of Wadsworth told U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber before he imposed the sentence. “This is a crisis beyond all my wildest imagination.”

To buttress the phony claims, Sullivan mailed insurers copies of X-rays of patients who had previously undergone legitimate work, according to prosecutors Scott Levine and Jacqueline Stern.

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Content retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-10-29/news/0310290323_1_dental-office-insurers-fillings

Michigan Office Manager Accused Of Embezzling

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Joker

Northern Michigan has yet another high dollar embezzlement case on its hands. This time, investigators say a Roscommon County woman stole at least $50,000 from her former employer. They say she took money from Woodland Family Dental in Higgins Lake for eight years. Terese Valko faces charges of embezzling and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. She was the office manager at the dental office.

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Content retrieved from http://www.9and10news.com/Global/story.asp?S=15755786

A 52-year-old Roscommon woman is set to be arraigned on charges of embezzlement between $50,000 and $100,000 and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud Dec. 13 in 83rd District Court, Roscommon, after a Michigan State Police investigation that lasted almost two years.

The suspect was the office manager at Woodland Family Dental at Higgins Lake, and is suspected of having stolen $77,000 from the business according to Woodland owner Dr. Cheryl Mitchell, D.D.S. Mitchell said the embezzlement is believed to have begun when the suspect, who was a close family friend, began working there almost eight years ago.

State Police Sgt. Robert Green said an investigation was initiated in the case in early 2009.

Mitchell said many patients were affected by the crime, and that it took over a year to straighten out the business’s accounts because the suspect “was running several scams.” She said the problem came to light when she was notified that a wage garnishment order against the suspect had been hidden and the business was being sued.

Green said the suspect is also accused of obtaining the narcotic hydrocodone by fraud.

source: http://www.houghtonlakeresorter.com/news/2010-12-09/News/Office_manager_to_be_arraigned_on_embezzlement_dru.html

PA Dental Office Manager Charged In $13K Theft

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A long-time, former office manager for a dental office in Hamlin has been charged for allegedly keeping insurance money totaling over $13,000.

State Police, Honesdale barracks charged Sharon Swartz, age 58, of Jefferson Township for Theft, Theft by Deception, Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition of Funds, Forgery and receiving Stolen Property. In all, she is facing 32 felonies.

According to police, Swartz was the office manager at the Scrimali/ Rathchford/ Hanyon Dental offices in Hamlin for 14 years. Since 2006, she allegedly was cashing insurance checks from, the dental office and keeping the money for herself. This involved cashing 28 insurance checks totaling in excess of $13,000.

Swartz was arraigned in front of District Judge Bonnie Carney and released on $30,000 unsecured bail. The accused as a preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 8.

The report by State Police was issued Friday evening, Feb. 3rd.

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Prosperident note — Ms Swartz is one of our “alumni.”  She also has several previous felony convictions for forgery and theft dating from 2006.

NJ Office Manager Steals $215k, Gets 5 Days In Jail

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Joker

A long-time employee for a Raritan Township oral surgeon was sentenced Friday, Jan. 5, to 36 days in jail and five years of probation for bilking the practice of more than $215,000 The ex-office manager, Barbara Reinhard, 59, of Raritan Township, cashed insurance checks and pocketed the money in various amounts between March 26, 1999 and Nov. 12, 2004 from the Sand Hill Road practice of Joseph Sansevere, an oral surgeon.

Reinhard, who appears frail and walks with a cane, had illegally cashed 256 insurance checks totaling $215,426.86 over that five-year period according to an October 2005 indictment. Barbara, I hope you know how many people you have hurt, Carolyn Sansevere said in a prepared statement before Reinhard was sentenced. Sansevere’s wife said that Reinhard’s scheme was complex and included convincing tellers to cash business checks that by law had to be deposited; went to the post office posing as someone else to collect mail for the business and altered data in a computer attempting to deflect suspicion. Carolyn Sansevere, speaking on behalf of her husband who was also in court, said the practice’s reputation, which was built from scratch took a huge hit as a result of the thefts.

Sansevere’s wife, who had worked at the practice when the thefts were occurring, said an internal investigation and investigations by the Raritan Township Police and the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office were conducted to prove her husband’s innocence. “You thought nothing of trying to blame other people,” Sansevere’s wife said. Assistant Prosecutor Charles Ouslander said Reinhard had been considered a loyal employee who was almost treated like a family member. Reinhard responded with a simple “no,” when asked by Superior Court judge Roger F. Mahon, sitting in Flemington, if she had anything to say before he sentenced her. The investigation began Nov. 17, 2004, after accusations that Reinhard took prescription blanks and used them to obtain painkillers had surfaced, Ouslander said following the hearing. The scheme fell apart when a particular drug not used very often was requested over a short period of time, Ouslander said. She was arrested in February 2005 during the investigation. Reinhard had worked for Sansevere for 10 years starting in 1994 and worked her way up, eventually being trusted to deal with insurance companies and depositing checks, according to court records.

She pleaded guilty Sept. 8 to theft by failure to make required disposition. Other charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Ouslander said Reinhard was among the first employees when Sansevere’s practice opened 12 years ago. Some of the stolen money was recouped by practice from the banks following civil court settlements, assistant prosecutor Ouslander said. Judge Mahon ordered Reinhard to pay $120,000 in restitution as part of the plea agreement with prosecutors. Employees from Sansevere’s practice filled most of the left side of the courtroom in support of the victim, but they did not speak. Ouslander said he was satisfied with the sentence the judge imposed. “I believe Mr. Sansevere was satisfied as well,” Ouslander said following the sentencing.

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Albuquerque Woman Charged With Embezzlement

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paula-carver

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The economy initially appeared to be the cause of a local orthodontist’s financial woes, but an audit instead found that a northwest Albuquerque woman allegedly embezzled thousands from the business, according to a criminal complaint.

Albuquerque orthodontist Dr. Mitchell Silverman had been struggling for more than a year financially and blamed the economy until he realized that he had not seen a decrease in patients, but a decrease in profits.

Silverman asked his accounting firm to do an audit in March and auditors found several discrepancies. A preliminary audit found about $150,000 missing from Silverman’s business, the complaint reads.

The audit found Medicaid and other types of checks had not been deposited and were missing, according to the complaint. It also found deletions in the accounting system.

Paula Carver, 42, was the office manager from December 2008 until she was terminated following the audit in late-March. She had been responsible for taking payments from patients as well as billing and receiving payments from insurance companies and Medicaid, according to the complaint.

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Content retrieved from https://www.abqjournal.com/82466/albuquerque-woman-charged-with-embezzlement.html

North Dakota Man Steals $76k From Dentist By Bonus Manipulation

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douglas-pete-miller-mugshot-31359782-223x223

A Bismarck man faces a felony charge on accusations he stole more than $75,000 from his former employer by adjusting his monthly bonuses.

Douglas Pete Miller, 40, was charged Sept. 25 with Class B felony misapplication of entrusted property. He made his initial court appearance on Tuesday, where South Central District Judge Gail Hagerty set his bond at $1,000. Miller has posted the bond. His next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 31.

According to court documents, Miller was the manager at Dakota Family Dental. During a salary review, officials there discovered Miller had been altering his monthly bonus from July 2008 to February 2013, with a total amount of loss to the company of $76,201.97.

Documents say Miller was fired and later was asked to repay the money. He wrote a check for $20,158.97, and his parents wrote one for $64,000, an affidavit said.

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Content retrieved from http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/bismarck-man-accused-of-embezzling-more-than/article_94660dc0-2bae-11e3-bdb5-001a4bcf887a.html

Goddard Announces Arizona Dental Office Manager Given Prison Term For Insurance Fraud

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Joker

Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that Kathy Salazar, 51, who worked as a dental office manager in St. Johns, has been sentenced in Apache County Superior Court to one year in prison for insurance fraud, a class 6 felony. She also will serve seven years of probation for theft, a class 2 felony.

Salazar pleaded guilty to submitting false insurance claims for dental procedures that were never performed and then pocketing the insurance checks.

Judge Michael Roca also ordered her to pay a $5,000 fine and $88,408 in restitution to Dr. Howard Lee of St. Johns.  Salazar worked in his office for 28 years as a dental assistant and office manager. She lived in St. Johns before recently moving to Mesa.

Salazar’s scheme was uncovered during a routine audit performed by Delta Dental which showed irregularities in submitted claims.

This case was investigated by the Arizona Department of Insurance Fraud Unit and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Beverly Rudnick.

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See Salazar’s indictment here: 

KathySalazarIndictment2010Download