A former Doylestown Hospital director is accused of stealing more than $600,000 from a hospital account that assisted the neighborhood and staff in want.
Bucks County Detectives and Doylestown Township police started a joint investigation final 12 months after the hospital board of administrators began receiving inadequate funds fees on an account that they didn’t know was open.
The investigation discovered the particular person answerable for overseeing the account, the previous Director of Medical Workers Norma Galagarza, 68, of Chalfont, had allegedly been stealing from the account for 13 years, till her retirement in 2021.
Here’s what we all know concerning the prison case:
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What are the costs towards Norma Galagarza
Felony counts of theft by illegal taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, information that property is proceeds of criminality, forgery, entry gadget fraud and laptop trespass.
Galagarza was charged and arraigned on Tuesday and launched on $250,000 unsecured bail. The costs towards her are solely allegations; she has not been indicted within the case.
What account is Galagarza accused of stealing from?
In 1991, the hospital created the Charitable Fund, which was described as an worker benevolent fund that made charitable donations to the neighborhood and staff in want.
The account was created and overseen by the hospital’s Medical Government Committee and it was funded by way of physician chief donations, in line with the Bucks County District Legal professional’s Workplace.
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As a part of her job duties, Galagarza was answerable for managing the Charitable Fund, and he or she was the only real worker answerable for reporting cash spent within the account.
How was the alleged embezzlement found?
In 2007, the hospital’s Medical Government Committee stopped receiving month-to-month statements on the account and it will definitely went dormant, in line with investigators. The hospital misplaced observe of the account and didn’t understand it was nonetheless open till it began receiving inadequate fund notices.
When hospital staff reviewed account statements they discovered exercise together with unauthorized withdrawals and deposits between October 2020 and December 2021 for more than $55,000.
Galagarza retired in March, 2021.
Investigators additionally found that the charitable account’s mailing deal with was modified from the hospital’s deal with to Galagarza’s residence deal with.
What do authorities allege Galagarza did with the cash?
Bucks County Detectives obtained search warrants and analyzed Galagarza’s bills and found she made practically 900 unauthorized transactions totaling roughly $604,702.29 from 2008 to 2021.
The evaluation discovered that she used the cash to pay her private taxes, actual property taxes, cellphone payments, automotive funds, and private credit score accounts.
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This text initially appeared on Bucks County Courier Instances: How authorities uncovered alleged $600K theft at Doylestown Hospital
