NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

APRIL 3, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HOUSTON WOMAN INDICTED FOR EMBEZZLING

FROM HER FATHER’S BUSINESS

            SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Houston, Mo., woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury for a mail fraud scheme in which she embezzled more than $100,000 from her father’s business bank accounts.

            Shirley Ann Scheets, 49, of Houston, Mo., was charged in a two-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. The indictment was unsealed and made public upon Scheets’ arrest and initial court appearance on Thursday, April 2, 2009.

            According to the indictment, Scheets was employed as the office manager and dental assistant for her father, Dr. Glen Schuster, at his dental practice in Houston. As the office manager, Scheets handled Schuster’s finances, including the accounts payable and receivable for both the dental practice and his horse farm, also located in Houston.

            The federal indictment alleges that Scheets mailed four certificates of deposit belonging to Schuster to Guaranty Bank in Springfield, Mo., with letters instructing the bank to negotiate or “cash out” the CDs. The bank was instructed to deduct taxes and penalties as a result of negotiating the CDs prematurely, then send the proceeds to Schuster’s dental office. Scheets allegedly drafted the letters to appear as if they had been written by Schuster himself. One of the letters was typed on Schuster’s professional letterhead, the indictment says, and she forged Schuster’s signature on both of the letters, all without his knowledge or permission.

            The bank mailed four separate checks, totaling $31,119, to Schuster’s dental office. Scheets allegedly intercepted the checks, forged Schuster’s signature on the back of each check, and deposited them into the one of Schuster’s business bank accounts.

            Over the next two years, Scheets allegedly withdrew funds from the accounts to which she was not entitled. The indictment alleges that Scheets wrote checks made payable to herself, forging Schuster’s signature without his knowledge or permission. The indictment also alleges that Scheets wrote checks to third parties on Schuster’s business accounts to pay for the personal expenses of her and her family. She allegedly forged Schuster’s name on these checks as well, all without Schuster’s knowledge or permission.

            According to the indictment, Scheets stole more than $100,000 from Schuster’s business accounts.

            The federal indictment charges Scheets with two counts of mail fraud related to mailing the letters and CDs to Guaranty Bank, which occurred on Aug. 23 and Nov. 27, 2006.

            Whitworth cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robyn L. McKee. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html