Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $580,000 from Birmingham Surgical Practice

BIRMINGHAM -- The office manager of a Birmingham surgical practice pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that she stole at least $580,000 from her employer, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton and Internal Revenue Service and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot.

ANNTWINE MOSS, 49, of Bessemer, entered her plea before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to five counts of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion for stealing from Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Alabama between 2006 and 2013. Sentencing is scheduled June 9.

According to the indictment and Moss’ plea agreement with the government, she  executed a scheme to defraud the surgical practice by using her authority as office manager to write unauthorized checks to herself, make unauthorized direct deposits into her account, and use the company's credit cards for unauthorized personal purchases. As office manager, Moss had authority over several key functions including payroll, accounting, bookkeeping and managing the office's budget. She falsified her personal tax returns for several years by failing to report to the IRS the illicit income she stole from TCVSA.  

The maximum penalty for each wire fraud count is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, while the tax evasion count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.  

The FBI and IRS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter Sr. is prosecuting.