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Las Vegas banker pleads guilty to embezzlement

Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2005 | 9:33 a.m.

A Las Vegas banker has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $2 million through a fictitious company, the U.S. Attorney's office announced Monday.

Michelle Fournier, 38, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to one count of felony embezzlement by a bank employee.

Fournier worked as a manager and financial analyst for the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp. in Las Vegas, according to court records. Her duties included approving vendor invoices.

Fournier admitted in her plea to creating a fictitious company, RMS Business Consulting, and submitting false invoices to her employer under the company's name, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Fournier forged her manager's signature to authorize 20 payments in 2004. The payments totaled approximately $2,013,500 and were delivered electronically or to a UPS Store mailbox and deposited in an RMS account Fournier controlled.

Fournier faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. She has agreed to forfeit $762,000 in cash, vehicles, jewelry and properties in Las Vegas and Kennebunkport, Maine. Fournier is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 4.

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