Tag: Embezzlement

Ex-Youth Choir Exec in West Virginia Admits to Embezzlement

A West Virginia woman has admitted to stealing about $98,000 from a youth choir organization.

News outlets report 51-year-old Jacqueline Holly Portillo of Hurricane pleaded guilty Monday to four felony embezzlement counts.

Kanawha County prosecutors say Portillo stole from the Appalachian Children’s Chorus from March 2010 through August 2017 through the use of business credit cards and bank accounts and concealed it by submitting false bank statements to accountants. Portillo is the nonprofit group’s former executive director.

Prosecutors say Portillo used the funds for personal travel and purchases for herself and family members, and for veterinary treatment and training for her dogs.

Portillo faces up to 10 years in prison. Sentencing has been set for July 30.

Woman Admits Theft of West Virginia Labor Union Funds

A former bookkeeper has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $183,000 in labor union funds in West Virginia.

Prosecutors say 70-year-old Joan Matthews of South Charleston entered the plea Monday in federal court in Charleston to felony embezzlement and theft of labor union assets.

Matthews admitted to stealing from the Charleston Building and Construction Trades Council from 2010 to 2014. The Council is comprised of local building construction trades unions and their members who work in West Virginia and the border counties of neighboring states.

Matthews faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing has been set for Sept. 11.

Ex-Legal Aid Clinic Manager Sentenced in Fraud Case

The former office manager of a legal aid clinic in Charleston has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for embezzling more than $1.5 million over 12 years.

Fifty-five-year-old Kim Cooper of St. Albans was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Charleston for her guilty plea to wire fraud and tax evasion.

Cooper oversaw daily operations at the Mountain State Justice office, including bank deposits. The nonprofit provides civil legal services to low-income West Virginians.

Prosecutors say Cooper admitted secretly establishing a separate bank account in the nonprofit’s name, deposited checks for attorneys’ fees, then moved money to a private bank account for personal use starting in 2004.

She used the funds to pay rent, make car and credit card payments and for other personal expenses.

County School Official Resigns Amid Embezzlement Probe

A county school board member in West Virginia being investigated for embezzlement has resigned.

Danny Cantley had served on the Boone County school board for more than two decades.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Cantley’s reason for resigning was unclear.

West Virginia State Police confirmed last month that Cantley and former board president Mark Sumpter were under investigation as part of an embezzlement case for receiving property that belonged to the school system.

Last month, police arrested two employees of the school system’s transportation department after they allegedly stole more than $20,000 through fraudulent purchases. Before their arraignment the two men told police they made fraudulent purchases for Cantley and Sumpter. Sumpter resigned in October.

Board President Joe Tagliente announced the county’s schools superintendent had received Cantley’s resignation last weekend.

Former WVU Employee Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

A former West Virginia University employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $87,000 from the school.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Clarksburg said in a news release that 55-year-old Loretta J. Reckart of Bruceton Mills pleaded guilty Monday to theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Prosecutors said she admitted embezzling while she worked at the university from October 2010 to July 2016.

Reckart faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The release said the sentence imposed will be based on the seriousness of the crime and defendant’s criminal history, if any.

Former Schools Credit Union Exec Charged With Embezzlement

The former director of a credit union for a West Virginia county’s school workers is facing charges of embezzling at least $156,300.

Former Ohio County Public Schools Federal Credit Union executive director Kathleen Gramlich was charged in a federal information Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wheeling.

The court filing says Gramlich embezzled the money between June 2013 and March 2016 to pay off personal debts.

The credit union serves about 1,000 current, former and retired Ohio County public school workers and their families.

The U.S. attorney’s office in northern West Virginia says Gramlich faces up to 30 years in prison if she’s convicted.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II said the accounts of credit union members were never in jeopardy.

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