Bookkeeper Kathleen Dvorak, 61, of O'Fallon, was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding one of her clients - a retired Memorial Hospital ER doctor - out of more than $1 million, according to U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft.
“While our work on violent crimes often garners larger headlines, the public should be reminded that financial crimes remain a clear federal priority,” Weinhoeft said in an Oct. 22 press release. “Financial criminals like Dvorak's cause great harm and must be held accountable.”
Dvorak's client, according to a civil lawsuit filed in St. Clair County in February 2020, was retired physician Dr. Thomas F. Byrne, who had relocated to Florida.
His suit claimed he lost actual damages of $1.68 million, plus has more than $50,000 in IRS tax liabilities and penalties, more than $50,000 in lost retirement income, and that he incurred in excess of $25,000 in professional fees as a direct result of the fraud.
The federal charges against Dvorak alleged that from 2012 through 2019, while working as a private bookkeeper, Dvorak embezzled in two primary ways:
(1) by writing large checks, payable to herself, that were drawn on the victim’s bank account; and (2) by taking large amounts of cash back for herself when she deposited checks payable to the victim into his bank accounts.
The indictment also claimed that Dvorak concealed her fraud from the victim by making false entries into his QuickBooks accounting program.
In addition to the four-year prison sentence, the court also ordered Dvorak to pay $1,495,072.74 to her victim.
The court further sentenced Dvorak to serve three years of supervised release following her release from prison. As a condition of her supervised release, the court ordered Dvorak to participate in treatment for gambling addiction and to not participate in any further gambling activities.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Division, Fairview Heights Resident Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Verseman prosecuted the case.