A former data entry clerk at a medical office here was indicted for stealing checks from the company, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wwdnesday.
Gloria Harris, 55, the former clerk at Crescent Medical Corporation in Whitehaven allegedly stole $292,500 by depositing checks made out to the company into bank accounts she fraudulently opened in Crescent’s name.
Harris is also said to have used other people’s Social Security Numbers to open those accounts, as well as to update her apartment lease.
Each fraudulent use of a person’s SSN, carries the maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years supervised release. Harris faces up to 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1 million fine, and five years supervised release.
The case, investigated by the U.S. Secret Service Economic Crimes Task Force, is set to be prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorney General for Western Tennessee, Carroll L. Andre III.
Meanwhile, about 25 miles north of Memphis in Atoka, Tennessee, a former employee at a bank there was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison Wednesday after she admitted in August to having had a connection to the embezzlement of over $800,000 from the bank.
The former branch administrator at the InSouth bank in Atoka, Lauren McDivitt, 41, pled guilty to embezzling $888,470 between 2006 and 2016.
In court, it was revealed that McDivitt created fraudulent withdrawal tickets to make it seem as if customers were withdrawing money from their accounts. To cover her tracks, McDivitt created fake email accounts for those customers to send monthly statements to. Finally, she mailed the customers fraudulent monthly statements that reflected interest accrued instead of the unauthorized withdrawals.
U.S. Attorney General for Western Tennessee, Michael Dunavant said the financial fraud and embezzlement is “disturbing and far-reaching.”
“The abuse of her position of trust and authority as a small town bank manager for her personal gain had a significant negative impact on the employees and customers of InSouth Bank, as well as the whole Atoka and Tipton County communities,” Dunavant said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office places high priority on protecting the security, deposits, and assets of financial institutions, and this sentence demonstrates that commitment.”
McDivitt will be required to pay restitution of close to $950,000 to InSouth Bank, as well as serve three years of supervised release after her 33-month incarceration period.
