A healthcare staffing agency chief operations officer in Indiana has been sentenced to federal prison after embezzling more than $400,000 from her employer.
Heather Rene Armstead, also known as Heather R. Ashley, 52, of Evansville, pleaded guilty to access device fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
Armstead will serve four years and nine months in prison plus three years of supervised release and must pay $245,007 in restitution.
Court records say she opened an unauthorized business checking account in the staffing agency’s name in September 2023 and directed customers to send payments there.
The employer staffed senior living homes across Indiana.
Between October and December 2023, about $74,781.57 in customer payments landed in that Middlesex Federal Savings account.
Armstead also took out unauthorized loans for the agency and moved those funds into the same account.
The Justice Department release says,
“Once she had funds in the Middlesex Federal Savings account, Armstead used a debit card linked to the fraudulent account to make personal purchases at multiple retailers, including a jewelry purchase of $2,172.33 at Helzberg Diamonds in Evansville. She also transferred large sums to her personal bank account.”
Armstead has prior federal convictions for aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and mail fraud.
U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler for the Southern District of Indiana says,
“Ms. Armstead abused her position of trust to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company that relied on her leadership. Her actions were deliberate, deceptive, and financially devastating to an organization responsible for staffing senior living homes and providing elderly with the care they deserve.”
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