The former office manager of a central Indiana manufacturing company has decided to plead guilty to federal charges that she embezzled $2.1 million from the business over a six-year period.
Federal court records show that Gail Greathouse, 57, of Elizabethtown, will plead guilty to charges of wire fraud and filing false tax returns.
Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that she had been charged with illegally writing checks and transferring money from LB Molds of Edinburgh to pay her credit card bills, a relative's college tuition and other expenses.
Greathouse has been the town clerk-treasurer of the 500-person community of Elizabethtown in Bartholomew County since 1993, The Republic of Columbus reported. She's not charged with taking money from the town but under state law she would be automatically removed from office once a judge accepts her guilty plea.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 25 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. A message seeking comment was left Friday by The Associated Press for her defense attorney, Stephen Dillon of Indianapolis.
LB Mold, which makes molds for automotive rims, had employed Greathouse for 13 years before dismissing her in 2010. She was not authorized to sign company checks except in cases of emergency but had been responsible for the company's accounting, according to court documents.
Investigators found that Greathouse embezzled the money from 2005 into 2010, prosecutors said.
"It's not unusual for long-term employees to obtain positions of trust within a company," U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said. "Had checks and balances been in place, the unauthorized expenditures she had been making could have been detected sooner."
LB Mold has sued Greathouse in Bartholomew County court, seeking repayment. A message seeking comment was left Friday for company attorney Arend Abel of Indianapolis.
Prosecutors said Greathouse faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence on each of the six counts of wire fraud and up to three years in prison on the false income tax return charge.
Greathouse still has been Elizabethtown's town clerk-treasurer during the investigation, Town Councilman Fred Barnett said. However, the State Board of Accounts has been asked to review the town's finances for 2011 and 2012, even though the council members have no reason to suspect wrongdoing, Barnett said.
Demolition of the foundry which cast Lewisburg Borough’s distinctive three-globe street light stanchions is underway.
Workers arrived Wednesday at what was once Watsontown Foundry in trucks lettered for Moran Industries and began the task of dismantling the site where the ancient craft was practiced.
The facility at Fifth and Ash streets in Watsontown was last owned by Somerset Foundry, which ceased operations in Somerset one year ago. Select corporate assets of Somerset were bought in June 2012 by Whitman Castings, of Whitman, Mass.
Marty Kerrigan, of Whitman Castings, said Watsontown Foundry was known for the relatively simple process of sand casting, a technique for making useful objects out of iron which can be traced almost to the dawn of recorded history.
“It still comes down to making a mold out of a tub of sand, packing it down and leaving a void in the sand after you take out a pattern of what you are going to cast,” he described. “In you pour the molten iron, and out comes the casting.”
Kerrigan noted that at one time, foundries including the one he is currently associated with, were quintessential small businesses, often taking the name of the area where they were based.
To some, Karl Rove is the heart and soul of the GOP. He has a long history of counseling prominent Republicans. Most memorably, he designed George W. Bush's successful presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004. Recently, he co-founded and helped run the super PAC American Crossroads, which, along with affiliated groups, raised over $100 million for Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
Rove is also a public figure. He writes a column for the Wall Street Journal, and was frequently on Fox News during the 2012 election. On election night, Rove famously told the network to be cautious about calling swing state Ohio for Obama too soon, which spurred the network to interview its own decision desk on air.
Cute, precocious, tiny, full of energy and maybe just a tad brighter than the average five year old, Lu-Lu and her dad and sister came to town Wednesday to have Ray McCluskey fill up their van for a trip to Oakland’s Children Hospital the next day. She was going early yesterday for a pre-op physical and to make last minute arrangements for her pending open heart surgery next Thursday, Jan.10th.
She has a hole(s) in her heart and her chest needs to be opened to allow the surgeons to do repairs. On Wednesday she showed Ray and me her little shirt that had a sequined red heart that she said, “Is right over my real heart.” When asked where her new little Gymboree parka was she said, “It really isn’t cold enough to wear it right now.” A few minutes later she popped into and out of the van wearing “her” coat.
This family of five children and two adults live in a rural two bedroom trailer, substandard by even the most liberal interpretations of any housing codes or laws. “But we have a roof over our heads and our family is able to stay together,” Lu-Lu’s stepdad told us. The family really needs a three bedroom (or bigger) house or apartment where it can bring Lu-Lu home to after her surgery.
The general filth and mold and mildew on the walls of their current residence will not be conducive to the healing process of a little girl just coming out of open heart surgery. In my opinion it could be disastrous, which is why the Dixon Toys for Tots Community Christmas Programs has taken on, and will stay with this family, until they have suitable housing, and Lu-Lu is home and well on her way to recovery. In 44 years we have never before gone to these extremes past Christmas.
The parents said doctors told them she will need bed rest for four to six weeks in a subdued, clean environment…this is where you come in. Certainly at least one of our readers either has, or knows of some one that has a place they can rent. We have enough donations into her fund so we can help subsidize their rent payment for up to a year or until social service funding becomes available. They can barely afford the $850 he’s been paying for the trailer but is prepared to pay that much with us making up any difference. We have a group that will pay for the parent’s motel stay during her surgery. They plan to share 12 hour shifts with her and were going to alternate sleeping in their van. Our organization will give them a gift card for food which will be receipted by them for our purposes as a 501C-3 non-profit charity. We will not directly give the family cash.
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