NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Julia C. Dudley Acting United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
July 17, 2008
FORMER MEDECO EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO MAIL FRAUD, ADMITS TO STEALING OVER $700,000
Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley announced today that Beverly R. Moulse, age 51, of Salem, Virginia, pled guilty in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, to a one count information charging her with mail fraud.
“This office has, and continues, to place a priority on the vigorous prosecution of those individuals, either in the private or public sector, who use their positions of trust and responsibility to commit fraud for their own personal gains,” Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley said today. “This case highlights the importance of cooperation between citizens, whether business entities or individuals, and law enforcement in detecting, prosecuting and punishing criminal activity.”
According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom, Moulse was employed as an accounts payable supervisor and disbursements analyst at Medeco from October 19, 1998 to December 16, 2006. Her position within the company left her responsible for all payable functions. However, between March 2000 and November 2006, it was determined that Moulse devised a scheme to defraud her employer of approximately $760,000.
Beginning in March 2000 and continuing until December 2006, Moulse repeatedly caused Medeco to make payments, via the United States Postal Service mail stream, to America Express in order to pay personal expenses which she had charged to her private American Express Account. The charges were not related to her employment and were not approved by Medeco. In all, Medeco determined that the American Express fraud resulted in losses of approximately $275,000.
The following items are some, but not all, of the personal items charged to Moulse’s personal American Express credit card that she later billed to Medeco as business expenses:
Date of Medeco Check |
Check Amount |
Selected Charges Included On Personal Statement |
|---|---|---|
11/22/06 |
$4,564.00 |
$519.75 (Noble Collections) |
11/09/06 |
$4,281.56 |
$145.83 (Yankee Candle) |
10/12/06 |
$4,699.58 |
$379.74 (Sunglass Sour) |
9/07/06 |
$4,960.59 |
$641.80 (Coach.com) |
8/10/06 |
$5,675.00 |
$412.85 (Amazon.com) |
5/25/06 |
$2,342.50 |
$800.81 (Amazon.com) |
| 4/20/06 |
$3,376.32 |
$329.69 (Island Breeze Clothing) |
4/13/06 |
$3,685.89 |
$306.88 (Petsmart.com) |
3/09/06 |
$2,550.46 |
$1,181.25 (The Frame Connection) |
2/02/06 |
$2,942.56 |
$587.20 (Coach.com) |
1/05/06 |
$2,799.41 |
$346.40 (Jostens Jewelry Store) |
In addition, Moulse issued official Medeco checks made payable to herself without the authority of corporate officials. To perpetuate her scheme, the defendant would temporarily switch the vendor’s name listed in Medeco’s master file to her own name prior to issuing a check. These actions caused the books and records of Medeco to reflect that the checks Moulse issued to herself were issued to a Medeco vendor. Only after obtaining the cancelled checks from the bank were corporate officials able to ascertain the extent of the financial harm the scheme caused. In all, Moulse issued herself checks in the total amount of $485,000.
Moulse’s fraudulent activity was uncovered in December 2006 during a routine end-of-the month financial review, conducted by Moulse’s supervisor. Typically, these reviews were performed by Moulse, but during this particular review the defendant was out of work on medical leave.
The maximum penalty faced by the defendant is 20 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $225,000.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officials of Medeco. Assistant United States Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom is prosecuting the case for the United States.