Tag: West Virginia

West Virginia woman charged with embezzling > $100k

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CUMBERLAND — A Ridgeley, W.Va., woman turned herself in to police for allegedly being involved in the embezzlement of more than $100,000 from a local dentist’s office.

Kecia Lynn Southerly, 44, was charged with forgery, theft and related offenses following a four-month investigation by C3I.

 The case was brought to the attention of police after an internal audit by the doctor’s office determined a large sum of money missing. The investigation revealed that beginning in 2007 and continuing until late in 2009, Southerly allegedly forged the doctor’s name on numerous insurance reimbursement checks, and then cashed them for her own use.

After obtaining numerous bank statements and canceled checks to verify the allegations, investigators obtained a charging document for Southerly, who surrendered to the C3I Warrant/Fugitive Unit on Friday.

 Southerly was released on her own recognizance.
Content retrieved from: http://www.times-news.com/news/local_news/ridgeley-woman-charged-with-embezzling-funds/article_e7d5514c-bbe3-52b0-bec4-f2bb9d33a5d3.html

Southerly also has a lengthy arrest record in Maryland

Kecia Southerly
Age: 50
DOB: 1966-02-11
Location: Allegany County, MD
Records updated: 2017-01-14

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County Court Details

Records shown on this page may not refer to the same individual, and may or may not pertain to the same charge.
FORGERY-PRIV DOCUMENTS
Full Name: Kecia Southerly
Record Date: 26 January 2007
Location: Cumberland
ISSUE FALSE DOCUMENT
Full Name: Kecia Southerly
Record Date: 26 January 2007
Location: Cumberland
THEFT-SCHEME: $500 PLUS
Full Name: Kecia Southerly
Record Date: 26 January 2007
Location: Cumberland
THEFT-SCHEME:10K TO UND 100K
Full Name: Kecia Southerly
Record Date: 01 October 2009
Location: Cumberland

Two West Virginia women accused of embezzling $47K

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MORGANTOWN — Two women face felony charges after police say they embezzled almost $50,000 from a local doctor.

Heather Yvonne Ann Keener, 33, of Morgantown, was charged with forgery, embezzlement, conspiracy and fraudulent schemes by the West Virginia State Police. She was arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court on Saturday, Feb. 14, and bail was set at $25,000.

Angela Demus-Layton, 40, of Morgantown, was charged with embezzlement, false pretenses and conspiracy. She was arraigned on Friday, Feb. 13, and bail was set at $3,000.

According to their criminal complaint: The two conspired to embezzle money from a business account of Doctor Mohammed Ashraf, who employed both defendants.

State Police wrote that it was unclear the exact amount taken but believe the total is around $47,000.

Police said that Demus-Layton owned an Ashley Furniture credit card and used the device to purchase furniture. Keener used the business account to pay off the outstanding debt, according to the criminal complaint. It is also alleged they used the victim’s signature stamp to sign the check.

Do you have questions about embezzlement?  Give Prosperident a call at 888-398-2327 or send an email to requests@dentalembezzlement.com

Content retrieved from: http://thedpost.com/Two-accused-of-embez–zling-$47K

Harpers Ferry, W.Va., woman charged with taking money from dental office

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MARTINSBURG, W.VA. – A Harpers Ferry, W.Va., woman was charged over the weekend with taking around $22,000 from the dental office where she previously worked, records state.

Donna A. Brining, 56, of 2041 Carter Ave., was charged with embezzlement. She worked as the office manager at Dr. Randolph Evans’ dental practice until she resigned on April 23, 2003, according to West Virginia State Police Trooper J.D. Bird, who investigated the case.

Evans, whose dental office is on Sierra Drive in Martinsburg, hired an accounting firm to investigate the suspected embezzlement, records show.Employees of the accounting firm randomly selected a four-month period and found that, during that period, $7,630.97 was collected from patients. Of that, only $536.09 had been deposited into the dental office’s bank account, records allege.

One of Brining’s responsibilities was to deposit such payments, records state.

Investigators believe that around $22,000 was taken over a 12-month period.

Brining told investigators that she took out a personal loan for $22,000 “to repay Dr. Evans for what she had claimed were deposits she had accidentally thrown away,” Bird wrote in a criminal complaint filed in Berkeley County Magistrate Court.

Brining was arraigned on the felony charge Saturday and released after posting a $10,000 property bond.

Conviction on a charge of embezzlement carries a sentence of either one to 10 years in prison or up to one year in jail.

Do you have questions about embezzlement?  Give Prosperident a call at 888-398-2327 or send an email to requests@dentalembezzlement.com

Content retrieved from: http://articles.herald-mail.com/2004-03-09/news/25023173_1_dental-office-dental-practice-embezzlement

West Virginia Receptionist Charged With Embezzlement

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GLEN DALE — Glen Dale police are investigating claims that an employee of Dr. Charles Wylie embezzled money from his practice while working as a receptionist.

According to Lt. Ed Vogler, Cynthia Hartley, 37, of Moundsville was arrested last week after Wylie told police he noticed “suspicious activity” on some of his patients’ accounts.

Vogler said Wylie first alerted officers to the situation on Nov. 15 after a computer specialist noticed numerous irregularities in patients’ payment accounts and that he discovered many bank deposits were coming up short. He said he then added a password requirement to the computers for anyone wishing to change account information, and the money shortages were reduced but not stopped.

Police interviewed several patients Vogler said complained of receiving bills from the practice after they had made the payments to Hartley.

One told officers Hartley took her into the back of the office to collect a $400 payment, but the records at the time reflect only $200 was received — $150 in cash and a $50 check. Vogler said the record was later changed to reflect a $250 check payment. The same patient told police that on another occasion she paid a $600 bill to Hartley — a $500 check and $100 in cash — but, according to Vogler, only the check was recorded in the office computer. That patient also said Hartley advised her she could not have a certain dental procedure done until she paid $2,000; she then allegedly told the patient she could make payments toward the work and Hartley would keep that a secret from the doctor.

On another occasion, a patient claimed she gave $4,000 in cash and $2,802 in a credit card payment to another receptionist while Hartley witnessed the transaction. That patient said the other receptionist did give her a receipt for the full payment, and the cash was put in the cash box. Vogler said when the receptionist counted down the box later that day, she noticed $1,000 in cash missing and told Hartley about it. The receptionist claimed Hartley instructed her to change the $4,000 payment to $3,000 in the system, adding that she (Hartley) would “take care of it later.” The receptionist also said Hartley advised her to keep this between them.

Hartley has been charged with felony embezzlement and is free on $2,500 bond. If found guilty, Hartley could spend 10 years in prison.

Do you have questions about embezzlement?  Give Prosperident a call at 888-398-2327 or send an email to requests@dentalembezzlement.com

Content retrieved from: http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/community/2007/12/receptionist-charged-with-embezzlement/

 

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GLEN DALE — Additional charges have been brought against a receptionist of Dr. Charles Wiley who was accused in November of embezzling from her employer.

According to Moundsville Police, Cynthia Hartley, 37, has been charged with forgery and fraudulent use of a credit card in addition to charges of felony embezzlement.

The embezzlement charges were brought against Hartley in December after Wiley reported “suspicious activity” on some of his patients accounts. Officers later spoke with several patients who claim they made payments for dental work to Hartley, but thousands of dollars worth of those payments were never recorded in the patients payment accounts.

Now, another employee has come forward, alleging Hartley stole her credit card while on the job and used it to purchase a cellular phone.

Police said the employee reported the card was stolen between June and November of last year, around the same time the money turned up missing. The monthly statement the employee received from the credit card company reflected a $246 purchase from the Moundsville Wal-mart on Nov. 2, and police said they have obtained video surveillance of Hartley making that purchase.

Hartley was taken to the Northern Regional Jail and released on $5,000 bond for the forgery and fraud charges. If found guilty, she could spend 1-10 years in prison for the embezzlement charges, 1-10 years for the forgery charge, and 1-10 years for the fraud charge.

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Plea negotiations are in the works for a former receptionist accused of embezzling more than $1,000 from a Glen Dale doctor’s office.

In Marshall County Circuit Court last week, Thomas White and David Zehnder, defense attorneys for Cynthia Hartley, 37, of Moundsville, informed Judge Mark Karl that they are in talks with the prosecution.

“We are in the branching stages of that,” White said.

Assistant Marshall County Prosecuting Attorney David Hummel concurred.

In July, Hartley was indicted on one count each of embezzlement, forgery and fraudulent use of a credit card following an investigation by the Glen Dale Police Department.

The embezzlement charges were brought against Hartley in December after Dr. Charles Wylie reported “suspicious activity” on some of his patients’ accounts. Officers later spoke with several patients who claim they made payments for dental work to Hartley, but thousands of dollars worth of those payments were never recorded in the patients’ payment accounts.

In January 2008, an employee reported Hartley allegedly stole a credit card while at work, then used it to purchase a cellular phone.

Judge Karl scheduled Hartley to re-appear at 1:15 p.m. Oct. 1 for further proceedings.

According to West Virginia Code, embezzlement, forgery and fraud charges each carry a sentence of one to 10 years in prison.

West Virginia dental receptionist accused of embezzling $250K

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HAMLIN – Dental practices in Hamlin and Alum Creek claim embezzlement of at least $250,000 by a veteran employee, and allege that in three months prior to her Hawaiian vacation last year, there were no cash payments recorded.

Dentists William J. Artrip and Carol V. Buffington accuse former employee LaDonna Johnson, who worked as receptionist in the Hamlin office and received and attended to depositing receipts. She was terminated in June. Her responsibilities included scheduling appointments, receiving and crediting cash and other payments from patients, inputting payment information and credits into management software, making bank deposits and billing paperwork.

The complaint tells of Artrip performing a seven-tooth extraction on June 11, 2011, then witnessing the patient giving $700 cash to Defendant.

“Dr. Artrip took the cash and checks to be deposited home with him,” the complaint says.”Dr. Artrip reviewed the deposit slip (prepared by Johnson) and… to his surprise, the $700 in cash he saw Patient A deliver to the Defendant did not appear on the deposit ticket and there was no cash to be deposited.”

Johnson was not at work June 12, and Dr. Artrip was unable to account for the $700, the suit says. On June 14, Artrip met with Defendant, explained accounting discrepancies and terminated her.

Three weeks later, an envelope containing $700 was discovered in a cabinet beside Defendant’s computer, the suit says. When Johnson filed for unemployment compensation she was found to have committed misconduct during that process, according to the complaint.

Review of computer accounting records and patient charts, the complaint says, determined cash payments and other funds in large amounts were misappropriated. The plaintiff retained a forensic accountant to analyze computer accounting records and charts, with four specific schemes identified that converted and misappropriated more than $250,000, according to complaint.

“As a direct and proximate result of the Defendant’s embezzlement and conversion,” the complaint says, “the Plaintiff has suffered financial loss and harm in an amount not yet ascertained, but which upon information and belief is no less than $250,000.”

If embezzlement is found to have happened and an amount is fully determined, the plaintiffs want jury judgment for that amount against defendant, plus pre-and-post-judgment interest, punitive damages and litigation costs. Imposition of a constructive trust equitable lien is requested on any other items of value wrongly in Johnson’s possession, along with such other relief deemed just and proper.

Trial date to be determined for Lincoln Circuit Court, where Judge Jay M. Hoke presides. Attorney Thomas H. Ewing of Charleston is representing the plaintiffs.

Do you have questions about embezzlement?  Give Prosperident a call at 888-398-2327 or send an email to requests@dentalembezzlement.com

Content retrieved from: Dental receptionist accused of embezzling $250K | West Virginia Record