A former payroll director for Grady Memorial Hospital was indicted Monday by a federal grand jury for allegedly embezzling more than $450,000 in public funds.
Donald Thomas, 53, is accused of using his access to the hospital’s payroll system to fabricate vacation and severance pay issued to terminated Grady employees. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Thomas then altered payroll records so that the additional payments were deposited directly into accounts under his control.”
He is also alleged to have created checks for falsified compensation made payable to former employees. Prosecutors said Thomas forged their signatures to endorse the checks, which he deposited into a personal account.
Thomas and his wife, former Grady budget director Mary Derheimer, were laid off by the hospital in 2011. They subsequently sued the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority for discrimination, claiming they were “subjected to an investigation that cleared them of any wrongdoings (but) since the conclusion of the investigation, (they faced) … subtle but pervasive … harassment.”
Last August, Channel 2 Action News reported that Grady officials conducted an internal investigation into the couple’s alleged fraudulent activities. The hospital’s chief legal counsel, Tim Jefferson, told the station Grady had supplied federal authorities with “substantial documentation of fraudulent activities involving two former employees.”
Only Thomas was named in Monday’s indictment.
According to prosecutors, the alleged embezzlement was brought to light when a former employee reported that her 2011 W-2 tax form showed greater compensation than she had actually received. The indictment states that at least 20 other former Grady employees received tax forms that were doctored by Thomas, who allegedly attempted to cover up his scam by reversing some of the doctored changes.
Thomas was released on bond Tuesday following arraignment on charges of embezzlement, wire fraud and bank fraud. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a potential fine of $1 million.
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