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McKenzie, Werner indicted in federal court
Former Vernon County Ambulance District Director, James McKenzie, and bookkeeper, Tina Werner, have been charged with multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The nine-count indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury on May 11, 2017.
On Wednesday, May 31, the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri, announced the indictments.
On Thursday, June 1, Don Ledford, Public Affairs Officer for the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri, said McKenzie had turned himself in on May 22 and made an initial court appearance before being released on his own recognizance. Ledford said that as of Thursday afternoon, Werner was still being sought.
The charges stem from the period of January 2013 until October 2015 during which Werner and McKenzie are alleged to have embezzled more than $260,000 from VCAD.
Count one of the indictment alleges Werner and McKenzie “knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with each other to commit the offense of wire fraud.” Essentially this says they planned to take money out of VCAD’s bank accounts using electronic transfers.
Count one alleges that between January 2013 and October 2015, Werner repeatedly transferred money from VCAD account to her personal accounts and McKenzie’s personal accounts without authorization.
Count two alleges that on or about Sept. 4, 2013, Werner and McKenzie used the VCAD employee Christmas bank account to pay $1,400 to a credit card issued in the name of McKenzie.
Count three alleges that on or about April 4, 2014, Werner and McKenzie again used the VCAD employee Christmas account to pay $1,741.72 to a credit card issued in the name of Werner.
Count four alleges that on or about Jan. 2, 2015, Werner and McKenzie used the VCAD employee Christmas account to pay $2,564.84 to a credit card issued in the name of McKenzie.
Count five alleges that on or about March 20, 2015, Werner and McKenzie used the VCAD toy drive account to transfer $2,000 “… from the VCAD toy drive bank account … in the amount of $2,000.00 to US Bank account number ending 5524, a US Bank account in the name of McReed Construction operated by McKenzie …”
Count six alleges that on or about June 5, 2015, Werner and McKenzie transferred “from the VCAD toy drive bank account … the amount of $6,100.00 to [a] US Bank account … in the name of McReed Construction operated by McKenzie. …”
Count seven alleges Werner and McKenzie used the VCAD CSI/Comdata credit card account to transfer $219.35 “to a US Bank account … possessed by the City of Nevada, Missouri, for the purpose of paying the personal utility bills of McKenzie and a family member of McKenzie. …”
Count eight alleges, “On or about August 2, 2014, the defendant … McKenzie, completed his VCAD time card that indicated he worked 80 hours during the period of July 20, 2014, to August 2, 2014, plus 10 overtime hours worked. A review of McKenzie’s VCAD employee pay stub showed for the same time period, the VCAD compensated McKenzie for working 80 regular hours and 30 hours of overtime. The VCAD employee pay stub showed that McKenzie received compensation in the amount of $3,132.74 instead of the $2,342.74 McKenzie should have been paid for working the 80 regular hours and 10 overtime hours recorded on his time card. As a result of the entering of hours not worked into the VCAD payroll system, McKenzie received $790.00 in compensation to which he was not entitled.” Werner and McKenzie are alleged to have used an electronic bank transfer to move that $790.
Count nine alleges, “On or about December 20, 2014, the defendant … Werner, completed her VCAD time card that indicated she worked 80 hours during the period of December 7, 2014, to December 20, 2014, with no overtime hours worked. A review of Werner’s VCAD employee pay stub showed for the same time period, VCAD compensated Werner for working 80 regular hours, 48 hours of overtime, and 20 hours of paid time off. The VCAD employee pay stub showed that Werner received compensation in the amount of $3,096.00 instead of the $1,440.00 Werner should have been paid for working the 80 regular hours recorded on her time card. As a result of entering hours not worked into the VCAD payroll system, Werner received $1,656.00 in compensation to which she was not entitled.” Werner is alleged to have used an electronic banking transfer to move that $2,031.16.
The indictment includes a forfeiture allegation and mandatory restitution of $260,264.54.
Each count filed against Werner and McKenzie is a class C felony and punishable by not more than 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and not more than three years supervised release.
According to information released Wednesday by the US Attorney for the Western District of Missouri office, “Werner attempted to conceal the embezzlement by entering a false deposit of $130,000 in the QuickBooks application, and by obtaining a $20,000 line of credit from OnDeck without the knowledge or authorization of the ambulance district’s board of directors. McKenzie and Werner allegedly destroyed financial and business documents belonging to the ambulance district while they were in the district’s office on Oct. 23, 2015, in an effort to conceal their embezzlement.”
A jury trial for McKenzie has been set for July 17, 2017, but Ledford said that in most cases the defense attorneys request the trial be continued to a later date so that they can prepare.
According to Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, “the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations and not evidence of guilt.”
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Missouri State Highway Patrol and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Carney and Casey Clark.