Former Vice President At Prism Career Institute Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Stealing More Than $400,000

CAMDEN, N.J. – A former vice president of operations at Prism Career Institute, a private, post-secondary educational institution with campuses in Cherry Hill, N.J., Egg Harbor Township, N.J., and Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for stealing more than $400,000 from her employer between 2008 and 2011, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Diane Bowler, 53, of Sewell, N.J., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb to embezzling, stealing and obtaining by fraud money belonging to Prism Career Institute, which receives federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education. Judge Bumb imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Diane Bowler was a regional vice president of operations at Prism, authorized to make purchases on behalf of Prism with her personal credit cards and then submit the receipts of these purchases to Prism for reimbursement. Bowler admitted that she stole more than $400,000 from Prism by submitting fraudulent reimbursement requests for purchases of supplies, furniture, equipment, and other items that were never received by Prism. She falsified invoices by cutting and pasting new dates and invoice numbers onto prior receipts for purchases and by fraudulently creating invoices for certain vendors with which Prism no longer did business. Bowler would forge the signature of the CEO of Prism on reimbursement checks and in some instances signed the checks herself before depositing the money into her personal bank account.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Bumb sentenced Bowler to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $551,596 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Resident Agency in Cherry
Hill, N.J., under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge John Brosnan; and special agents of the Department of Education - Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian Hickey, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Skahill of the Special Prosecutions Division in Camden.

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Defense counsel: Richard Sparaco Esq., Cherry Hill, N.J.