Ex-Bookkeeper for Ky. Law Firm is Convicted in $93.5K Theft Case
A federal jury has convicted a former bookkeeper for a law firm in Catlettsburg, Ky., of 17 charges related to the theft of nearly $100,000 from her ex-employer, Pruitt & Thorner.
Ronda Nixon was found guilty Thursday of 11 wire fraud counts, two bank fraud counts, three aggravated identity theft counts and one count of using an unauthorized access device, reports the Daily Independent. The verdict followed a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in Ashland, Ky.
According to an earlier indictment in the case and trial testimony, Nixon arranged in Oct. 2006 to get an American Express credit card for the law firm, at the direction of senior partner Garis Pruitt. But then, without his permission, Nixon used the card to make personal purchases over the next nine months and pay off a student loan.
She initially used money from a law firm account to pay the bill, the newspaper reports. But then, to get funds to replenish the law firm account and cover up her personal charges, she allegedly opened an American Express Bank line of credit, using Pruitt’s Social Security number, and forging his signature .
The total cost to the firm was $93,477, the indictment says.
She will be sentenced at a later date.
