Other LanguagesPleads guilty to charges filed by Attorney General’s Office
OLYMPIA – When Sandra Gilbert was hired as the business office manager at a Raymond nursing home, she was entrusted with managing the funds of the home’s vulnerable residents. But the Aberdeen woman admitted Friday to violating that trust by forging dozens of checks and depositing nearly $60,000 into her own bank accounts.
According to charges filed by Assistant Attorney General Dawn Cortez, Gilbert used her position at Willapa Harbor Care Center, to access resident trust funds, forged 66 checks bearing the fake signatures of fellow employees and deposited them into two bank accounts.
During the investigation, conducted by Beverly Maddox of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Gilbert claimed she took the money to indulge her gambling habit. Court records show that Gilbert spent tens of thousands of dollars at the Shoalwater Bay Casino during her employment. However, in an e-mail revealed to the investigator, Gilbert stated that she “took hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past twenty years.”
Gilbert pleaded guilty Friday to nine counts of forgery, seven counts of first-degree theft and two counts of first-degree identity theft. The Attorney General’s Office will seek a 10-year sentence. Sentencing will take place in Pacific County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 4, 2008.
The Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of healthcare provider fraud committed by Medicaid providers. In addition, the unit coordinates the investigation and prosecution of abuse and neglect involving vulnerable adults residing in Medicaid funded residential facilities with local law enforcement authorities through a statewide contact network.
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Contacts:
Janelle Guthrie, AGO Communications Director, (360) 586-0725