Former Executive Indicted for Stealing from Non-Profit

Rice Allegedly Stole Nearly $300,000 from the Medical Association of Atlanta over Four-Year Period

March 19, 2010 - ATLANTA, GA—SHARON L. RICE, 46, of LaGrange, Georgia, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of mail and wire fraud for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a non-profit organization. RICE was arraigned on the indictment today before United States Magistrate Judge Alan J. Baverman in Atlanta.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant allegedly used her position as the executive director of a non-profit organization to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization. The indictment alleges that she systematically took the money over a four-year period and used it for her own selfish purposes. Her deceit has been discovered.”

According to Acting United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: From November 2000 until May 2008, RICE served as the Executive Director of the Medical Association of Atlanta (“MAA”), a non-profit, tax-exempt professional association of between 600-1000 Atlanta-area doctors, which advocates on behalf of doctors in the Georgia General Assembly and other legislative forums and helps provide continuing medical education courses.

The indictment alleges that between February 2004 and May 2008, RICE used her position as MAA’s top executive to cause MAA to issue multiple checks and other payments, drawn on MAA’s Bank of America checking account, to herself and to her Visa credit card to pay for personal expenses, and that she cashed the checks that she wrote to herself or deposited them into her personal checking account with Washington Mutual Bank. For many or all of the payments, RICE then made false entries in MAA’s books to conceal the scheme from MAA, attributing the payments to MAA vendors and other legitimate business purposes, when in truth they were for her own personal enrichment.

The indictment charges RICE with 14 counts of wire fraud and 2 counts of mail fraud, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney David M. Chaiken is prosecuting the case.