Freemasons For Dummies: Woman Embezzles From OES Chapter

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Woman Embezzles From OES Chapter

A southwest Indiana woman has pleaded guilty to embezzling $290,000 from her Order of the Eastern Star chapter.

From the WLFI Channel 8 website today:

The Evansville Courier & Press reports 37-year-old Susan Hilgeman pleaded guilty Monday to felony charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit theft. Her sentencing is scheduled for April 24, when she could receive up to 11 years in prison for the combined charges.

Hilgeman's mother, 80-year-old Marilee Garrison, is also charged with conspiracy to commit theft in the case and faces a July trial. Both Susan and her mother were officers in Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic women's organization.

Indiana State Police arrested the women last April after a yearlong investigation prompted by other officers in the chapter who contacted police.

1 comment:

Len Lamoreau (Tyrian #73 - Maine)Fri Mar 22, 07:44:00 PM 2013
Unfortunately not surprising and probably happens more often than people know about.

I don't know what offices the two ladies held (I don't belong to OES), but it would sound like a Treasurer and Secretary working in collusion...when more than one person is working together it's very difficult to detect.

We like to think the best of people, but between working as an Auditor myself, and my wife working in loss prevention for retail stores, you're far more likely to be ripped off from your employees than a customer...sad but true.
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