_________::::___#515 - November 30, 2007________________
FRAUDBARON.com
The Anti-Fraud Professionals'
Source for Fraud News
#515 Updated: 11/30/07 3:32 p.m.

Ex-Tower Bank exec guilty of embezzlement
The Journal Gazette | 11/30/07 | Rebecca Green
A former Tower Bank vice president pleaded guilty
Thursday in U.S. District Court to embezzling more than $500,000 from the bank between
May 1999 and November 2002.  Judy Quackenbush, 52, of Fort Wayne, could face up to 30
years in prison and a fine of $1 million when she is sentenced in February. A federal grand
jury indicted her on three counts of embezzlement and misapplication of funds by a bank
officer. As part of a plea agreement, two of the three counts will be dismissed at sentencing.
According to court documents, Quackenbush was the vice president in charge of mortgage
lending at the Tower Bank branches in Fort Wayne and Huntington and took $511,140.72
from a Tower Bank account used to handle loan proceeds. As part of her plea agreement,
Quackenbush agreed to make full restitution.

Parkville woman gets three years for embezzlement
bizjourals.com | 11/30/07 | Staff Writer
A Parkville woman will spend three years and one month in federal prison for an  
embezzlement scheme she pleaded guilty to in August.  Jenifer Lyne Merriman, 43, also was
ordered Friday by U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan of the Western District of Missouri to
pay $440,430 in restitution, matching the amount of money she rooked from Boschert
Equipment Co., a North Kansas City-based company that distributes industrial parts for
process heating.  Merriman worked for Boschert and between 2000 and 2006,
systematically drafted payroll checks to herself and forged her employer's signature on the
checks and deposited them.  Sometimes, she also charged the company unauthorized
personal expenses at retail stores. Merriman also owes the Internal Revenue Service
$116,602 in back taxes, as well as more than $13,000 she had in interests with Boschert's
profit-sharing trust.

Tycoon Berezovsky Convicted in Moscow
ap.google.com | 11/30/07 | Steve Gutterman
Tycoon and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky was convicted in absentia Thursday of
embezzling millions of dollars from the national airline, Aeroflot, and reportedly sentenced
to six years in prison.  Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider who fled to Britain and has
become one of President Vladimir Putin's most vocal foes, said the charges were part of a
politically motivated campaign against him.  "This was not a trial but pure farce," he told The
Associated Press by telephone.  Reading the verdict in footage on NTV television, a Moscow
district court judge said Berezovsky was found guilty of embezzling money from Aeroflot
through fraud. He was charged with embezzling 214 million rubles — nearly $9 million at the
current exchange rate — in the 1990s. The court later sentenced Berezovsky to six years in
prison, Russian news agencies reported, but Britain has rejected Russian requests for his
extradition.  Russia will again appeal to Britain to hand Berezovsky over, the RIA-Novosti
news agency reported, citing Russian prosecutors.  Berezovsky said he would consider the
six years or so that he has spent in Britain, unable to return to his homeland because he
faces prosecution in 11 criminal cases, as punishment.  Berezovsky, 61, is one of the richest
and most prominent of the Russian tycoons who made fortunes in the political and
economic upheaval following the Soviet collapse.  He became an influential Kremlin insider
under President Boris Yeltsin, but fell out of favor with Putin. He fled to Britain in 2000 and
was granted refugee status in 2003.  Berezovsky's confrontation with the Kremlin has
deepened over the radiation poisoning death in London last year of Alexander Litvinenko,
an ally and fellow Putin critic who blamed the Russian president for his poisoning.  Russian
officials have suggested that Berezovsky, seeking to discredit Putin and Russia in the eyes
of the world, was behind Litvinenko's killing and the October 2006 slaying of investigative
journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Russia has refused to extradite the suspect Britain has
named in Litvinenko's killing, Andrei Lugovoi.  A court-appointed attorney defended
Berezovsky, who told his lawyers to steer clear of the trial.  The court on Thursday rejected
a separate charge that Berezovsky laundered some of the money he was convicted of
stealing from Aeroflot, reports said.

Woman faces embezzlement charges
jeffersonpost.com | 11/29/07 | Jim Thompson
A Jefferson woman faces charges of embezzling over $237,000 from her former employer.
Earlier this month, William Sands of the Sheriff’s Office arrested Ina A. Himelwright, 50, and
charged her with:  Four counts of embezzlement and  One count of obtaining property
under false pretenses According to Sheriff James Williams, these felonies allegedly “took
place over a four-year period.” During that time, Himelwright worked as a bookkeeper for
Poplar Grove Farms Inc. in West Jefferson.  Williams said Himelwright allegedly obtained an
American Express card in the business’ name, then allegedly used it for cash advances and
to purchase merchandise. “The warrants allege there were 127 incidents,” Williams said.
That included, according to the warrants, using the credit card for $77,409 in cash
advances, which she allegedly then converted to her personal use. “She is also charged
with having converted money from her employer to her own personal use,” Williams
said.  The total alleged to have been embezzled, according to the warrants, was
$237,758.68.  Poplar Grove Farms is a local Christmas tree grower.  It was not known at
press time whether or not authorities had recovered any of the money or merchandise
allegedly involved in the case. Himelwright was released on $50,000 secured bond.

Embezzlement suspect accused of more crimes
courier-journal.com | 11/29/07 | Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- A Madison woman indicted for allegedly embezzling $1.1 million from the
Switzerland County School Corp. was charged yesterday with additional crimes.  And the
lawyer for Ann Geyman, 54, said she intends to confirm a guilty plea on the school charges
at an upcoming court hearing. The lawyer, Jack Bennett Jr., declined additional comment.
Geyman had previously notified the court of her intention to plead guilty.  The U.S.
attorney's office said Geyman also faces charges of mail fraud for actions she allegedly took
while serving as treasurer of the nonprofit Madison Regatta Inc., which holds hydroplane
races each Fourth of July weekend.  Court records say Gayman wrote 24 checks from the
Madison Regatta account to make credit-card and personal loan payments in 2000 and
2001. The checks totaled more than $24,000.  Also, she was charged with committing mail
fraud while employed as an accountant for J.D. Byrider, an automobile dealership and
related finance company operating in Madison. According to the U.S. attorney's office,
Geyman allegedly defrauded the company of about $76,000 by issuing and mailing 22
checks from its bank account to pay her credit-card and other loan payments.  Geyman was
granted pretrial release and will be scheduled for an initial hearing on all the charges --
including those related to the school embezzlement -- before a U.S. magistrate in New
Albany, said Acting U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison.  School officials said they first learned of the
missing money in May during a routine state audit. The district of about 1,600 students is
based in the Ohio River town of Vevay. The school board fired Geyman that month.
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