Additional Charges Filed Against Alaska Woman Who Allegedly Defrauded Medical Practice of at Least $550,000

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that additional bank fraud charges have been filed against an Alaska woman who allegedly defrauded an Anchorage medical practice of at least $550,000.

Jill Diane Applebury, aka: “Jill Wetzsteon,” 53, d/b/a Applebury Accounting Services, and her husband Darin Wade Applebury, 53, both of Anchorage, have been named in a 53-count superseding indictment charging them with bank fraud, wire fraud, fraudulent transactions with an access device, and aggravated identity theft.  The superseding indictment includes an additional 14 counts of bank fraud against Jill Applebury, which arose from a related scheme.

From the mid-1990’s until March 2013, Jill Applebury was the independent contractor bookkeeper for an Anchorage medical practice, which was owned and operated by an Anchorage physician.  The superseding indictment alleges that from at least 2004 until March 22, 2013, Jill Applebury and Darin Applebury defrauded the Anchorage medical practice in several ways.

According to the superseding indictment, the additional bank fraud charges stem from May 2008 to January 2010, when Jill Applebury used the medical practice’s funds to pay her independent contractor Federal Income Tax Withholding on her nonemployee compensation without authority.  Therein, Jill Applebury executed unauthorized and fraudulent transactions from the medical practice’s business bank account to the IRS, wherein the medical practice paid her IRS individual income tax without any reduction in her nonemployee compensation without the knowledge or consent of the medical practice.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Anchorage Police Department (APD) conducted the investigation leading to the charges in this case. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Retta-Rae Randall and Andrea W. Hattan. 

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.