2 charged in separate white-collar crimes totaling $800K

2 charged in separate white-collar crimes totaling $800K


2:48 PM, Jan. 19, 2012

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry has filed theft charges in two separate white-collar crime cases, he said today, in which a total of about $800,000 was stolen.

In the first case, prosecutors charged Stacy H. Sheedy, an Indianapolis attorney and accountant, with three counts of theft and one count of forgery, according to a release from Curry’s office. Grand Jury investigators, the release stated, discovered $596,000 in withdrawals and missing funds from a guardianship account and a family trust account for which Sheedy was responsible.

Last year, the release stated, prosecutors learned of a possible theft from a guardianship account that supported an elderly widow living in a nursing home and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Upon investigation, officials found several unauthorized transfers and withdrawals, including checks Sheedy wrote to herself and to her business, according to the release from Curry spokeswoman Brienne Delaney. The funds taken from the account totaled over $172,000, the release said, and included cash withdrawals, wire transfers, and checks written to Sheedy’s business.

Sheedy took responsibility for the guardianship account on or about June 16, 2010, and was removed on April 1, 2011, the release stated.

Beginning in August 2010, prosecutors claim, Sheedy made at least 32 unauthorized
withdrawals during the next six months. Sheedy is charged with forgery and multiples counts of theft, all felony charges.

The discoveries made pertaining to the guardianship account led investigators to look further into Sheedy’s work — specifically, her role as trustee of a family trust, for which Sheedy had served as trustee since November 2007.

A brokerage account within the trust, the release stated, was valued at $501,000 when Sheedy became trustee but now is listed at a value of $168.

When family members inquired as to why they were no longer receiving brokerage statements from the account, prosecutors say, Sheedy deliberately misled them. She told beneficiaries, the release states, that she had invested the funds in a bond fund. She then, prosecutors say, began to periodically provide beneficiaries with what appeared to be a monthly “statement” from the “Wealth Council Indiana Small Cap Bond” fund

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