Eli's Hospice Insider

Keep a close eye on your employees with purchasing power, or you may end up bilked of hundreds of thousands of dollars like two hospices.

Case #1: From January 2003 to March 2011, Jeffrey Mohamed was chief of information technology for the Hospice Care Network headquartered in Woodbury, N.Y., reports Newsday newspaper in Long Island, N.Y. Nassau County prosecutors say he embezzled more than $243,000 from his employer by making unauthorized purchases of computers, televisions and other electronic equipment.

Mohamed made the purchases through the hospice's accounts and then returned the items for a credit to his personal account or by selling the equipment and keeping the proceeds. Managers at Hospice Care Network discovered the theft during a review of open orders for IT equipment from a vendor, according to Newsday.

Case #2: Former bookkeeper and office manager Sandra Lea Morrison has been convicted of embezzling more than $171,000 from Hospice of Missoula in Montana over four years, reports the Missoulian newspaper. Morrison transferred more than $127,000 from hospice bank accounts to her personal account, issued paychecks to herself totaling nearly $25,000 beyond her regular pay, reimbursed herself for about $15,500 in office supplies, and paid herself $3,440 for vacation time she hadn't earned. Morrison used the funds for her keno gambling habit, Morrison told the judge at a sentencing hearing.

Insurance didn't cover the cost of Morrison's theft, hospice director Kit Jackson told the judge, the paper reported. Morrison was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with all but 2.5 years suspended. And she must repay the stolen funds plus a fee.