Former hospital employee sentenced for embezzling more than $150K
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A former hospital employee was sentenced to one year in federal prison for taking money from a not-for-profit’s checking account and using it to fund her personal expenses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Indiana Southern District says Michele Rose, 62, was sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to five counts of wire fraud. In addition to her sentence, she will serve one year of supervised release and must pay nearly $154,000 in restitution.
According to a news release, Rose had been employed at a not-for-profit health organization in Jasper since 1991. In her role, she oversaw the medical staff checking account, which was funded through dues paid by doctors.
Money going into the checking account was then donated to fund community initiatives, like scholarships, food banks and humane societies.
Between March 2011 and December 2020, Rose wrote fraudulent checks to herself, claiming the money was reimbursement for legitimate business expenditures.
Higher-ups with the organization would sign the blank checks, which Rose would then fill out for herself. She did not account for the fraud in the monthly financial reports she prepared.
In total, Rose embezzled $153,769 from the medical staff fund to pay for personal living expenses, according to the attorney’s office.
“For nearly a decade, this woman stole from community-minded professionals who trusted her, lining her pockets at the expense of the Jasper community groups the doctors intended to support,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers said in the release.