Tag: South Carolina

SC embezzler sentenced to two years

blank by David Harris

david-a-smith

BEAUFORT — A former Hilton Head Island bookkeeper has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $78,000 from two local businesses.

David A. Smith, 42, of Hilton Head, pleaded guilty to four counts of breach of trust and one count of forgery. He was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison followed by five years of probation. Additionally, Smith was ordered to repay $78,070 in restitution.

While working for the bookkeeping business According to the Books, Smith wrote checks to himself and his wife from two businesses: a pool maintenance company and a dentist. He also had access to business credit cards, which he used to make personal purchases.

The case was prosecuted by assistant solicitor Francine Norz, who specializes in prosecuting white-collar crime for the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. The embezzlement was investigated by Sgt. Chuck Runnion of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Judge Thomas Cooper handed down the sentence.

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Source http://www.blufftontoday.com/bluffton-news/2011-07-29/embezzler-sentenced-two-years#.V9r1jigrKhc

Two MUSC College of Dental Medicine employees accused of altering payroll

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obrien-and-latrace

Two Medical University of South Carolina College of Dental Medicine employees were arrested Monday and accused of stealing nearly $28,500 by altering payroll documents and buying expensive electronics for personal use, according to court affidavits.

Michael Latrace, 47, of Vestry Drive, is charged with one count of breach of trust and one count of forgery. He was released from Charleston County jail on $25,000 bail. Margaret Elaine O’Brien, 39, of Sycamore Avenue, is charged with two counts of breach of trust and one count of forgery. She was released from the same jail on the same bail amount.

Both were charged by the State Law Enforcement Division. It is unclear if the two are still employed there.

Latrace is listed in the affidavit as the College of Dental Medicine finance director and allegedly instructed O’Brien and another woman, who has not been charged, to submit false payroll documentation for more pay instead of giving them raises.

The scheme went on from April 1, 2014 to April 21 of this year. O’Brien received $14,957 and the other woman received $8,685 as a result, according to the affidavit.

O’Brien, whose job title is not listed, is also accused of purchasing numerous electronics using MUSC’s money between June 19, 2012 and April 21, including a surveillance camera, GoPro camera, Bose Quiet Comfort headphones, a Macbook Air and iPad. Latrace told the police that he took the property, worth a combined $4,731.69, for his own use and consented to a search of his home, where the items were found, the affidavit states.

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Content retrieved from http://www.postandcourier.com/20160725/160729587/two-musc-college-of-dental-medicine-employees-accused-of-altering-payroll

South Carolina Collusive Fraud: Dental Employee and SEVEN other Conspirators Sentenced for Stealing 368K

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Malentha Robinson-Taylor

COLUMBIA — Malentha Robinson-Taylor, 46, of Cordova was sentenced Monday in federal court in Columbia for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles reported.

U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. of Columbia sentenced Robinson-Taylor to 51 months imprisonment and ordered her to pay approximately $126,000 in restitution.
 
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Robinson-Taylor worked for an Orangeburg-based dentist. She and her husband, R.L. Robinson-Taylor, recruited individuals who supplied their Blue Cross Blue Shield policy numbers to them. Mrs. Robinson-Taylor then submitted claims as though these individuals had been seen by her dentist employer, even though they had not. When checks were sent directly to the beneficiaries for services that had not been performed, they split the proceeds with the Robinson-Taylors.
 
The total claims submitted to the insurance company totaled approximately $800,000. The amount paid by insurance was approximately $368,000. The amount kept by Mrs. Robinson-Taylor was approximately $126,000.
 
The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U. S. Attorney Winston D. Holliday Jr., of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.

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Content retrieved from: https://thetandd.com/news/cordova-woman-sentenced-in-health-care-fraud-case/article_aff85d20-87b8-11e3-a00b-0019bb2963f4.html
 

 

South Carolina Dentist Loses Over $100k in Embezzlement — Sues Former Receptionist, her Husband, and Two Banks

blank by David Harris
Joker

CHARLESTON – A former South Charleston dentist is claiming his office assistant embezzled more than $100,000.

Dr. Jack Shamblin filed the lawsuit June 8 in Kanawha Circuit Court against J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank One Corp. and Patricia and Larry Conley.

He says Patricia Conley was stealing from two of his accounts while employed there, claiming she “obtained access to both of the accounts through computer banking systems created and maintained by the bank without his knowledge.”

Conley was hired in December 2003, the lawsuit says, and began forging the authorization of checks by using a signature stamp of Shamblin’s that was approximately 40 years old.

At first, it says she took at least $17,000 from Shamblin’s personal account before eventually stealing more than $100,000 from the business account.

Shamblin says he discontinued his practice June 30, 2005. He charges the two banks with negligence and breach of contracts. He charges Conley with fraud, unjust enrichment and outrage and adds that her husband Larry knew what was going on and received the stolen funds.

Michael L. Glasser of Meyer and Ford in Charleston is representing the plaintiffs, who include Shamblin’s wife Kay. They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

Judge Tod Kaufman has been assigned the case.

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Content retrieved from http://wvrecord.com/stories/510590528-dentist-claims-assistant-stole

Former manager of South Carolina dental office gets six years in prison for embezzlement

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linda-gregg Linda Branton Gregg, 54, of Armadillo Court near St. Stephen pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Moncks Corner courtroom to a charge of breach of trust of more than $10,000 after money went missing from St. Stephen Family Dentistry. (PROVIDED) A former office manager for a St. Stephen dentist was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for funneling tens of thousands of dollars from the practice. Linda Branton Gregg, 54, of Armadillo Court near St. Stephen pleaded guilty in a Moncks Corner courtroom to a charge of breach of trust of more than $10,000. Ninth Circuit Judge Roger Young gave her the maximum 10-year prison sentence, which was suspended in lieu of six years in prison and three years of probation. Gregg had been arrested in December 2011 on suspicion that she stole more than $80,000 from St. Stephen Family Dentistry on South Main Street, where she had worked for about 25 years. Capt. Rick Ollic of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the case along with the St. Stephen Police Department, said Thursday that “it was a good outcome based on the circumstances.” The loss of the funds was said to have devastated the dental practice financially and its owner, Dr. Tristan Cordray, emotionally, his attorney said. Though she faced only one charge, Gregg also stole money from Dr. Herbert Orvin, who had owned the practice before his death, according to the Sheriff’s Office. A native of Ravenel, Cordray purchased the business in 2008, shortly after he graduated from dental school and decided to practice in a rural area, according a Post and Courier profile of him that was published before the allegations surfaced. The practice sued Gregg and her fiance, Douglas Allen Kaufman. In December, Circuit Judge Markley Dennis awarded $569,371.47 in damages to the dentist. One of Cordray’s attorneys in the lawsuit, Oana Johnson of Charleston, said the theft had been a “big loss.” “Part of the problem was that they all trusted her,” Johnson said. “That’s as painful as losing money sometimes.”
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Content retrieved from: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140123/PC16/140129744
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