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US Attorney: Lakeville VA worker created fake company to embezzle thousands via fake equipment purchases

Posted Jan 28, 2020 

BOSTON — A Lakeville man, who is a Department of Veterans Affairs employee, was charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court with embezzling nearly $70,000 in VA funds, federal prosecutors said.

Michael Donaher, 41, was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of embezzlement and theft of public money, property or records, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. He was released on conditions following an initial appearance in U.S. District Court.

According to the complaint, Donaher works as an inventory management specialist for the Veterans Affairs Medical Facility in Brockton and purchases equipment for the facility, prosecutors said. Prosecutors claim Donaher used his government-issued purchase cards to made fraudulent transactions and routed the proceeds to his personal bank account.

Donaher tried to conceal these fraudulent purchases by making it appear as if they were made through a large company — FW Webb — that the VA frequently used for legitimate business, prosecutors said. The purchases were actually made through a company Donaher created through Square, Inc., a mobile payment company.

These purchases were not for actual items ever received by the VA and Donaher attempted to hide this fact by annotating the items as having been received within the VA’s accountability system. prosecutors said.

According to the complaint, Donaher fraudulently routed about $70,000 in VA funds to his personal account since the scheme began in 2016, they said.

The charging statute provides a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the news release.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Jeffrey Stachowiak, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Field Office, made the announcement Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris of Lelling’s Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the case.