SAN FRANCISCO — A former federal employee was given three years probation for an embezzlement scheme that focused a very weak demographic: the households of useless navy veterans.
Whereas working on the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Well being Care System, Bella Phoenix overcharged veterans’ households for funeral costa and pocketed the distinction, as soon as even overtly displaying as much as the house of a person whose father had just lately died to take $800 in money when the sufferer’s bank card had been declined, prosecutors stated. Phoenix finally pleaded responsible to a misdemeanor and acquired the three-year probation time period from U.S. District Decide Charles Breyer, courtroom data present.
The plea settlement lined two crimes in 2021: Phoenix pocketing $800 from one veteran’s son, and pocketing $3,860 from one other veteran’s household. Within the latter case, the veteran was nonetheless alive on the time, however she satisfied the household it will be cheaper to pre-pay for the funeral, prosecutors stated in courtroom filings.
In each circumstances, no fee was required. Within the $800 theft, she first tried to get the sufferer to scan his card on her private bank card scanner, then confirmed as much as his residence to retrieve the money after his card was declined, prosecutors stated.
Prosecutors requested for the three-year probation time period, arguing that it struck a steadiness between the seriousness of the offense and Phoenix having endured “difficult personal circumstances that include financial hardship.” She was additionally ordered to pay $5,752.67 in restitution.
