NEW ALBANY, Ind. — An Indiana woman was sentenced to over 2 years in federal prison after embezzling over $400,000 from her former employer.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), 35-year-old Dara Little was hired at a senior living facility in Bedford, Indiana in May 2014. As part of her job, she had access to a web-based platform used to submit business expense reimbursement requests.
In January 2016, documents show she was fired for timesheet fraud and theft of prescription medicine -- but her access to the online platform wasn't deactivated right away.
Court documents reveal that after Little was fired, she submitted 24 expense reimbursement requests totaling close to $60,000. The reimbursement requests contained forged and falsified receipts that had "no connection" to her employment at the senior living facility.
According to court documents, Little continued to make reimbursement requests for five months after she was fired. Her expense reimbursement request account was finally deactivated in September 2016.
Documents show that the day after her account was deactivated, she started using another employee's account to submit additional fraudulent reimbursement requests. Little submitted 172 fraudulent reimbursement requests, between September 2016 and March 2021, using the other employee’s account. She ended up receiving around $180,000.
Court documents reveal that in October 2017 Little started using another employee's account to submit fraudulent reimbursement requests. Little submitted 155 additional fraudulent reimbursement requests, between October 2017 and March 2021, with the second employee’s account. She ended up receiving more than $161,000.
According to the DOJ, investigators searched Little’s cell phone and found a note where she admitted to stealing over $400,000 from the senior living facility over the course of five years, how the money was stolen and what she spent the money on.
Court documents show that she ended up stealing a grant total of $419,542.45.
“Ms. Little intentionally sought to personally benefit by diverting funds that were not her own to line her own pocket," Robert Middleton with FBI Indianapolis said. "This sentence should send a clear message to others who might consider doing the same."
According to the DOJ, the court ordered Little to be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 3 years following her release from federal prison. In addition, she has been ordered to pay the full amount in restitution.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
