Winslow bookkeeper sentenced for embezzlement scheme
File photo
A Winslow woman has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor for a wire fraud scheme and ordered to pay more than $816,000 in restitution.
A Winslow woman has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor for a wire fraud scheme that netted her hundreds of thousands of dollars.
U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced Sarah Nale, 49, to nine months in prison followed by nine months of home confinement and two years of supervised release.
Nale, who pleaded guilty to the crime in August, was also ordered to pay over $816,000 in restitution.
Court records show that between March 2012 and September 2022, Nale stole $816,584.74 from two local businesses — a realty trust and a professional services firm — where she was the bookkeeper and sole employee.
A large portion of the funds were stolen by writing checks from the realty trust to the professional firm, and then writing checks to herself from the professional firm.
Nale would write large checks to herself for money she was not owed, but prepared a checkbook ledger that made the checks appear to have been made to legitimate vendors or for her usual salary.
The FBI and the Waterville Police Department investigated the case.
Earlier this month, a Portland woman who defrauded five Maine investors out of more than $1 million was convicted by a Cumberland County jury of theft by deception.
Maine banks are stepping up efforts to combat check fraud, as reported in a Mainebiz cover story last year.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments