Ponzi Schemes, Embezzlement, Fraud, Forgery, what’s going on in Chester County Lately??
There have been numerous White Collar Crimes in the Chester County area over the past few years, here are just a few examples of the ones that were caught and charged with a crime.
Is this a sign of the times, the economy? Or is it plain greed, wanting what we can’t have, trying to impress and keeping up with the Jones and their lifestyle, or just something that has been going on and now the employers, banks, and public are more aware of? How many more are still comitting these white collar crimes as we speak but haven’t been caught yet?
What also amazes me is at the number of charity frauds and schemes there are also, they seem to be growing at an alarming rate.
For nearly a year, Tara L. Plummer was reportedly running around like a celebrity, pulling out a credit card for Tiffany’s & Co., Victoria’s Secret, Gucci, a plastic surgeon, airlines, department stores and more.The problem?Plummer’s lengthy, luxurious shopping spree left her with more than fine things. It also left her with an arrest record.Not only did Plummer rack up more than $60,000 in purchases, but they were all allegedly charged to her employer’s credit cards. The purchases — along with company checks she allegedly wrote out and cashed herself — prompted borough police to charge Plummer with more than 4,000 counts of fraud and related charges.
A West Chester woman who used her boss’s credit cards to go on a 11-month shopping spree — racking up more than $63,000 in credit card bills and cashing checks for more than $10,700 — pleaded guilty to forgery and related charges Dec. 5.As part of the plea agreement, Tara Plummer, 32, of Bradford Terrace, was sentenced to 10 years probation on the first charge of forgery, a felony of the second degree. She was also ordered to pay $41,000 in restitution.
A Coatesville city woman surrendered to city police Wednesday after embezzlement charges were filed against her.
Lucy Short, 49, was charged for allegedly stealing just under $200,000 from her employer, Sovereign Environmental Group, according to court records.Short allegedly stole more than $193,000 from the company and issued more than 100 company checks to herself. The company fired Short on Jan. 4, records state.
Police charged Short with 138 counts of theft by unlawful taking, 138 counts of theft by deception, 138 counts of receiving stolen property and forgery, and related charges.
A West Chester woman is accused of using at least four methods to embezzle $925,000 while working for a Delaware County distributor of water and sewage treatment equipment.
Sixty-six-year-old Elizabeth Greenawalt is charged with embezzling money from Environmental Equipment & Service Co. of Marcus Hook between 1997 and 2006. She’s on electronic home monitoring awaiting a preliminary hearing after arraignment Monday.
A former Downingtown police officer was arraigned Friday on charges of embezzling for more than $12,000 from the department�s police association.
Leonard Thebarge, 30, worked three years as a police officer until he resigned from the department on Feb. 25. Court documents listed a St. Louis apartment as the defendant�s current address.
Francis Myers, 58, of the 1000 block of West Niels Lane, Westtown, worked out of the Media branch of the bank on Baltimore Pike before leaving his job earlier this year. He is facing multiple counts on charges including theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and receiving stolen propertyAnother $68,000 in embezzled funds went to cover “an off-the-books loan” for a mobile home for another Wachovia customer, whose loan had been turned down, according to the affidavit.His wife, Diane, a West Chester area school teacher, accompanied Myers, a father of two grown daughters, for his arraignment in Media District Court. Myers had worked at Wachovia Bank for about two decades.
Sandra Blackman, 59, of Downingtown, stole thousands from the collection plate that was passed around after each Christmas show. She stole from the theater’s box office and abused a production company credit card to the tune of $100,000. She cheated People’s Light & Theatre out of $96,000 worth of trips to London for herself, her husband and friends, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia.Based on the total amount stolen and the number of years she did it, Blackman was stealing an average of $100,000 or $200,000 a year — a rather significant share of the seven-figure budgets the company was operating on during the years in question.
Gary R. Block, a former West Chester lawyer who embezzled more than $100,000 from his clients, was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in Chester County Prison. On Oct. 28, Block, 59, admitted to three counts of theft.
Gail Musselman, 45, of Honey Brook, allegedly requested checks totaling almost $700,000 from the corporate headquarters in South Carolina issued to a personal Capital One account regularly for six years, police said.
click below to read more http://www.chestercountypost.com/2009/06/chester-county-white-collar-crimes.html
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