Former Collections Supervisor Indicted on Fraud Charges

A former supervisor at a collection agency working on telecom accounts was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges that she altered incoming checks from consumers, routed them to a personal bank account, and forged electronic records to cover her tracks.

According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Tameka Bennett-Quinn began her scam in May 2009 and continued until she was caught in November. Bennett-Quinn had been employed as a supervisor at GC Services in the St. Louis area for 10 years, according to prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors allege that she stole more than 100 checks intended to pay off late telecom accounts. Bennett-Quinn would take individual checks, alter the name of the intended payee so that the checks would appear to have been made payable to her, and deposit them into a personal bank account. In order to hide her theft, she accessed her company’s database and changed consumer records to show that the account had been paid.

A federal grand jury indicted her on four felony counts of making forged securities and four felony counts of bank fraud. She appeared in federal court Tuesday. She appeared in court Tuesday.

According to the paper, each count of forged securities carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. Each count of bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $1,000,000.