FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MA
CONTACT: CHRISTINA DiIORIO-STERLING
PHONE: (617)748-3356
E-MAIL: USAMA.MEDIA@USDOJ.GOV
ACUSHNET WOMAN SENTENCED FOR EMBEZZLING OVER $1.1 MILLION DOLLARS
Boston...An Acushnet woman was sentenced late today on charges of possessing forged securities of a corporation engaged in interstate commerce.
United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Steven D. Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service and Keith Pelletier, Chief of the Westport Police Department, announced today that GRACE M. OLIVER, age 39, most recently of 8 Wild Rose Lane, Acushnet, Massachusetts, was sentenced today to 46 months incarceration on charges of possessing forged securities of a corporation engaged in interstate commerce.
On August 6, 2007, OLIVER pled guilty to embezzling funds from Superior Drywall in Westport, where she served as a bookkeeper from January 2004 to December 2006. OLIVER forged 447 company checks payable to herself, as well as her credit card companies, mortgage holders, and others to whom she owed money. OLIVER secretly prepared the checks and forged the signature of the company’s principal owner. OLIVER deposited some of the checks into her personal bank accounts, others she used to transfer money to her friends and associates. OLIVER covered up her scheme entering false payee information into the company’s accounting software, to make it look as if the checks were legitimate. Over the course of the scheme, OLIVER embezzled a total of over $1.1 million.
Following 46 months of imprisonment, OLIVER must serve a term of three years supervised release and make restitution payments to Superior Drywall in the full amount of her theft. As part of OLIVER’s sentence, the Court entered an order forfeiting OLIVER’s interest in various properties, including a bank account and a number of cars, motorcycles and residences.
The case was investigated by the Providence Resident Office of the U.S. Secret Service and the Westport Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Levenson, Chief of Sullivan’s Economic Crimes Unit.
###