Big Brothers Big Sisters Manager Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

LEXINGTON—The former office manager of a nonprofit organization in Lexington admitted in federal court today that she issued company checks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to individuals who weren’t entitled to receive the money.

Bendrea Wilson, 33, pleaded guilty to bank fraud before U.S. Chief District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman.

Wilson, worked for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lexington (BBBS), and admitted that she issued 142 fraudulent checks to individuals worth $435,837 from 2008 until October of 2009. She acknowledged that while some of the money recipients performed a little bit of legitimate work for BBBS, they did not deserve to receive the money she gave them.

According to her plea agreement, Wilson directed BBBS’ bookkeeper to write the checks and then Wilson forged signatures of BBBS board members on the checks. Wilson sometimes accompanied the third party individuals to Central Bank in Lexington wheere the checks were cashed.

Wilson said she concealed the checks in BBBS’ financial records by telling the company’s accounting firm that these individuals performed legitimate work for the company. Wilson had the accounting firm charge the checks to a BBBS account.

Wilson waived her right to be indicted by a grand jury and pleaded guilty to the charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kerry B.Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Elizabeth A. Fries, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, jointly announced the plea today.

Wilson faces a maximum prison term of 30 years when she is sentenced on August 25 at 1:00 p.m. in Lexington. However, the sentence will be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.