LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The former bookkeeper of an Elizabethtown, Kentucky, health provider was sentenced this week to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay $541,224.88 in restitution by Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell, for embezzling funds through wire fraud announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.
Jeanne E. Goodsell, of Hodgenville, Kentucky, was charged in a seven count criminal information, on May 8, 2015 and entered a guilty plea to all charges on June 4, 2015. According to information presented in court, Goodsell wired payments to vendors for services were not sent to the vendors, rather, the payments were diverted to an account set up by Goodsell for her own personal use.
During a seven-year period, between June of 2005 and August of 2012, Goodsell embezzled approximately $562,000 from her employer Communicare, a community behavioral health center. Communicare found the discrepancies in 2012 following an audit. Communicare identified approximately 127 Communicare vendors who did not receive payments, even though the payments were recorded on Communicare financial transaction history data.
A further investigation revealed that during the same time period, numerous vendors were electronically wired payments ranging from $1,000 to $35,000 for services, however, the wired payments were sent to Goodsell’s personal accounts.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lettricea Jefferson-Webb and was investigated by the United States Secret Service.
--DOJ Western District of Kentucky