Woman, 70, gets 28 months for on-job embezzling

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A 70-year-old southwestern Illinois woman has been ordered to spend two years and four months in federal prison for embezzling nearly $1 million from a pediatrics office she managed.

Flora Buckingham of Granite City pleaded guilty in September in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to mail fraud.

Authorities say that from May 2004 to November 2010, Buckingham embezzled from Ahmad and Rana Pediatrics in Granite City by writing third-party checks to pay her credit card bills. Buckingham disguised the payments as legitimate expenses in the office’s ledgers.

Federal prosecutors have not said on what Buckingham spent the money.

As part of her deal with prosecutors, Buckingham must repay the office $921,000.