Former Hospital Employee Sentenced for Embezzling Hospital Funds

He stole over $46,000 in a  little more than a month from Pleasant Valley Hospital

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Point Pleasant man was sentenced to three months in prison for embezzling more than $45,000 from the Pleasant Valley Hospital, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  Kevin L. Durst, 62, was also ordered to pay restitution to the Hospital in the amount of  $48,782.86.  Stuart commended the investigative efforts of the Department of Homeland Security.

“They trusted him and, had they not caught him, he would still be stealing from them today, “ said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Hospitals like Pleasant Valley are under assault financially, let alone having to protect themselves from thieves like Durst.  We all pay more for healthcare to make up for the losses when unscrupulous characters steal from the very hospitals that care for us.  Any amount of loss can be devastating and health care providers and patients suffer as a result.”

Durst admitted as a financial analyst at Pleasant Valley Hospital, he had access to the Hospital’s online bank accounts and could initiate wire transfers on certain of those accounts. He further admitted that he secretly wrote checks to benefit himself and to his family’s private cemetery from a Hospital account that he knew was dormant and was not scrutinized by other Hospital officials.  He also admitted that he transferred funds from the Hospital’s active accounts to the dormant account to ensure that there were abundant funds for his personal use.  He further admitted that he initiated wire transfers to the Internal Revenue Service out of Hospital accounts to make federal tax payments for his family’s cemetery. He embezzled the funds between July 20, 2016, and August 22, 2016.

Assistant United States Attorneys Joe Adams and Meredith George Thomas were in charge of the prosecution. United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the sentencing hearing.

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