A Brockton, Massachusetts, woman has pleaded guilty after federal prosecutors said she tried to deposit a $931,745.28 U.S. Treasury tax refund check that belonged to a Brooklyn health care company.
Lana Ruel, 70, pleaded guilty on June 11 in federal court in Boston to one count of theft of government funds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Oct. 1, 2026.
Prosecutors said the Treasury check had been issued to a health care company in Brooklyn, New York. Before the attempted deposit, Ruel incorporated a Massachusetts company using the same name as the health care company, then opened a bank account in that name, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office…