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Feds: Woman stole $380K from BWMC: Faked cell phone invoices for almost three yearsJun 07, 2010 (The Capital - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Severna Park woman and her adult son falsely billed Baltimore Washington Medical Center for more than $380,000 in wireless phone service, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. Margie L. Milisitz, a 58-year-old former employee of the hospital, and John Milisitz, 37, of Carlsbad, Calif., each face two counts of mail fraud and 16 counts of interstate transportation of stolen property related to the theft scheme. According to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Margie Milisitz worked as the Glen Burnie hospital's manager of telecommunications. Prosecutors said she was responsible for overseeing the hospital's purchase and maintenance of telecommunication services and equipment, including wireless phones and pagers. Between May 2005 and January 2008, the Milisitzs created fake invoices in the name of Global 1 Telecommunications and U.S. Cellular and charged the hospital for various services and equipment that was in fact never provided to the hospital, prosecutors said. Margie Milisitz would tell the hospital Accounts Payable Department that the goods listed on the invoices had been received and the hospital would in turn issue payment. Prosecutors said the payments were deposited into bank accounts in California that were controlled by John Milisitz. In all, the Milizitz's defrauded the hospital of more than $380,000, prosecutors said. Kevin Cservek, a spokesman for BWMC, said hospital staff discovered evidence of the scheme in January 2008. He declined to elaborate in light of the criminal charges. He said Margie Milisitz was no longer a hospital employee. A federal grand jury returned the indictment on Feb. 25 in Baltimore. It was unsealed Thursday upon the arrest of the Milisitzs in San Diego. Each count of mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Each count of interstate transportation of stolen property carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The Milisitzs were being held in California pending a hearing on Thursday. Prosecutors said they did not know if they would fight their extradition to Maryland. --- [email protected] To see more of The Capital or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hometownannapolis.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |