Federal Judge Sentences Woman to Three Years for Fraud and Embezzlement

HUNTSVILLE—A federal judge today sentenced a Rainbow City woman to three years in prison for fraud, which included stealing nearly $700,000 from her employer, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Patrick Maley.

U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr. sentenced ROXANNE SAUNDERS GILLILAND, 56, on charges of bank fraud and mortgage application fraud and ordered that she be taken immediately into custody. GILLILAND pleaded guilty to the charges in February. The judge also ordered her to pay $693,748 in restitution, and to forfeit that same amount to the government.

“This criminal fraud struck a blow to a local business and to our financial community and, in so doing, threatens our community at large,” Vance said. “A jail term is just punishment for someone who would steal from her employer and lie to banks and mortgage lenders, and it should deter others from committing similar crimes,” she said.

According to court documents, GILLILAND was an employee of Dawson Construction Company in Gadsden and, between March 2005 and October 2008, fraudulently withdrew more than $690,000 from personal and business accounts connected to the company. Also, in April 2007, GILLILAND submitted a personal home mortgage application in which she falsely claimed a business account of Dawson Construction as a personal asset in order to obtain a mortgage loan she would otherwise have been ineligible to receive.

Special agents of the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney prosecuted it.

This prosecution is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency task force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.