Horseshoe Bend Woman Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

BOISE – Lois Soito, 60, of Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, pled guilty today to two counts of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. Sentencing for Soito is set for February 21, 2020, before Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye at the federal courthouse in Boise.

According to court records, for 22 years, Soito worked in the accounts receivable department for the Saint Alphonsus Health System (SAHS) in Boise. In her job, Soito had access to money raised at the Festival of Trees. Beginning in January 2005, Soito kept checks intended for SAHS instead of depositing them in the appropriate account. She then fraudulently deposited some of the checks into a bank account used to reimburse SAHS vendors. From that account, Soito wrote checks payable to herself and deposited them into a credit union account she controlled. Soito also used some of the checks that she kept to conceal her theft of funds from the Festival of Trees. Soito used similar methods with other SAHS accounts to embezzle additional funds. Because Soito’s fraudulent scheme caused the interstate transmission of wires, she was charged federally with wire fraud.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to 3 years of supervised release. As part of her guilty pleas, Soito agreed to pay restitution of at least $1,483,963.82 to SAHS.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and Boise Police Department.

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