Opinion ID: 203944
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sicher's Thefts

Text: In these two roles, in which Sicher admittedly received minimal supervision, the defendant was able to steal from both Dr. Walton and CGF.
Beginning no later than September 2000, the defendant began to steal from Dr. Walton's medical practice. She stole reimbursement checks sent to Dr. Walton from public and private health insurance programs for medical services by indorsing them with the forged signature of Dr. Walton and depositing them into her personal bank account. She took patient payments made by check to Dr. Walton as well as patient co-payments made in cash. She told one patient he owed an additional $1000 not covered by the insurance payment received and then, when the patient paid, pocketed the money. Dr. Walton did not monitor Sicher's representations to patients about the sums owed or himself review the deposits to see that the accounts were correct. Over the course of five years of thefts from Dr. Walton's practice, Sicher stole more than 160 checks from more than 40 different insurers, totaling over $150,000. To carry out her thefts, the defendant made, without Dr. Walton's authorization or knowledge, a signature stamp, which she used to forge Dr. Walton's signature in indorsing the checks. Dr. Walton did not review the checks, and so did not observe this. The defendant also deleted various records of the surgeries Dr. Walton had performed for which payments were still due from the practice's computer files.
Sicher was also able to use her position to encourage fundraising for CGF, to steal from CGF's bank account, and to steal funds meant to be deposited to the accounts. She took blank, unsigned checks for CGF, which were intended for funding research grants and for which Dr. Walton was the sole authorized signatory. Sicher made 61 of those checks payable to herself from CGF and deposited them into her personal bank account, taking a total of $172,995 from the CGF account. She also stole at least seven donations made by check from third parties for a total of $9,850. She used the signature stamp she had made of Dr. Walton's signature to indorse the checks in order to carry out these thefts. She also took cash donations made to CGF, which the defendant told the government totaled approximately $10,170. These actions were admittedly taken without the authorization of Dr. Walton. They were also taken without his knowledge or permission. But it is not the formal job description which is at issue but the actual responsibilities of her job. Sicher was able to conceal these actions because of the scope of her duties. For example, she, not Dr. Walton, was responsible for opening and reviewing CGF's monthly bank statements, and presumably reconciling accounts. For at least five years, she showed Dr. Walton only the first page of the statements which show the balance for the CGF account. She destroyed the remaining pages that showed the cleared, forged checks. Dr. Walton deferred to Sicher's representations about the finances of both his practice and CGF after seeing only the first page of the bank statements and did not conduct a supervisory review of her accounting. Sicher was given increased responsibilities over the years because, Dr. Walton said, he trusted her and had confidence in her. His office essentially had no checks and balances on the discretion she had in both of her roles.