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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA former Indianapolis Bond Bank employee has been sentenced to 545 days in prison after pleading guilty to two felony counts of theft and agreeing to pay $340,791 in restitution to the bank, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday.
Jacqueline Fitzgerald, 55, who was terminated in June 2017 after 17 years at the bond bank, admitted to stealing funds by claiming inappropriate benefit leave payouts.
Fitzgerald was responsible for handling the bond bank’s employee payroll, benefit leave, health insurance and retirement benefits.
She was fired for enrolling grandchildren on her employer-provided health insurance even though she wasn’t their legal guardian, breaking company policy. After her firing, it was discovered that Fitzgerald was paid about $170,000 in the last year of her employment, even though her annual salary was about $57,523.
An investigation found Fitzgerald regularly requested that the payroll company pay her for hours of benefit leave in addition to her normal paycheck. A review of records showed that from January 2013 through June 2017, Fitzgerald also requested and received unauthorized bonuses and incentive pay as well as employer-provided health insurance for four grandchildren whom she listed as her children.
A similar case against one of Fitzgerald’s coworkers, Monica Durrett, is still pending. Durrett, 57, was charged with five counts of felony theft and one count of felony insurance fraud (Level 6 Felony). pretrial conference is set for Sept. 11.
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Normal serve only half a state sentence, so 272 days (9 months) seems light for $340k of fraud. It was not just one mistake, but a pattern. Doesn’t say whether she can afford to do full restitution. That would mitigate the sentence.