FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
December 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DENTAL OFFICE WORKER SENTENCED
IN CHECK CASHING SCHEME
Fraudulently Endorsed 184 Insurance Reimbursement Checks Totaling $400,954
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Michelle Rampersad, age 31, of Frederick, Maryland, today to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud in connection with a three year scheme to fraudulently endorse her employer’s insurance reimbursement checks and deposit the checks for her own benefit, including gambling expenses, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Williams also ordered Rampersad to pay restitution of $400,954.04.
According to her plea agreement, Rampersad worked at a dental practice located in Greenbelt, Maryland, and was responsible for logging in reimbursement checks from insurance carriers and preparing the checks for deposit into the office bank account. Beginning at least in March 2004, Rampersad fraudulently endorsed the checks to herself, using a prescription stamp bearing the name of the dental practice to make it appear as if the checks had been endorsed by the dental practice to Rampersad. She deposited the checks into her personal bank account. She failed to log the checks into the office accounting system in an effort to conceal the fraud.
Under this scheme, from March 2004 to August 2007, Rampersad fraudulently endorsed approximately 184 checks totaling $400,954.04 and used the funds for her own benefit, including gambling expenses.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for its investigative work and commended Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan C. Su, who is prosecuting the case.