Crownpoint Woman Sentenced to Probation for Embezzling Money from an Indian Tribal Organization

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Shavna April Bebo, 36, of Crownpoint, New Mexico, was sentenced to a three-year term of probation for embezzling from an Indian tribal organization, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales. Bebo also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $38,998.37 to the victim of her criminal conduct.

Bebo was charged on January 26, 2012, in an indictment alleging that, from October 2009 through August 2010, Bebo willfully and knowingly embezzled $38,998,37 of the funds belonging to the Littlewater Chapter House, a tribal organization in Crownpoint. On June 5, 2012, Bebo pled guilty to the indictment under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to the plea agreement, Bebo was employed as an administrative assistant in the business office of the Littlewater Chapter House from February 2, 2008 to August 12, 2010, when she was terminated. Shortly after Bebo’s employment was terminated, Littlewater Chapter House officials filed a complaint with the police alleging that Bebo fraudulently had made out checks to herself on the Littlewater Chapter House business account using the officials’ signatures and had cashed the forged checks for her personal gain.

The investigation into the complaint against Bebo revealed that Bebo forged 51 checks totaling approximately $38, 998.37. During an interview in August 2011, Bebo admitted that she began forging and cashing checks on the Littlewater Chapter House business account in 2009 and continued to do so until the Chapter House officials exposed her scheme and terminated her employment.

The case was investigated by the Gallup Resident Office of the FBI and the Crownpoint Division of the Navajo Nation Department of Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers.