A former business manager and comptroller at a Cleveland Catholic Charities facility has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for embezzling $2 million from the diocesan organization, federal authorities said Thursday.
Michelle Medrick, 58, of North Royalton, previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud. U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko sentenced Medrick to 62 months in federal prison and ordered her to pay $2.4 million in restitution, according to a news release from acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja and Stephen D. Anthony, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office.
Medrick, who was employed at Catholic Charities’ Parmadale facility, was charged with embezzling the money from the organization beginning in at least 2008 through last year. She was responsible for payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable and other financial transactions.
Court documents show that Medrick converted proceeds of client-agency and donor checks to cash and then put the money in her own bank account,.
She wrote more than 1,400 checks payable to cash and misrepresented herself as the agency’s chief financial officer so she could withdraw cash from Catholic Charities bank accounts, according to court documents and statements.
“This defendant stole millions of dollars from the vulnerable men, women and children who are supported by the good works of Catholic Charities,” Sierleja said. “The diocese uncovered the fraud, came forward to federal authorities and cooperated fully,”