Lincolnton woman sentenced in embezzlement case at urgent care center

A Lincolnton woman whose embezzlement put a Hickory urgent care center out of business was sentenced this week to three years and a month in federal prison.

Angelina Marie Parker, 44, pleaded guilty in September 2014 to three counts of uttering counterfeit securities – the company’s checks – with the intent to deceive the organization.

Prosecutors said Parker stole about $253,000 starting in 2004 from her former employer, Piedmont Urgent Care of North Carolina Inc. Parker was the office manager. The company first learned of the embezzlement in 2009 after it switched accounting firms.

Court records show Parker issued unauthorized company checks payable in her name and the name of a relative. Prosecutors said she forged the signatures of the doctors who owned Piedmont Urgent Care and deposited the checks into her bank account and the bank accounts of relatives.

Parker concealed her theft by altering the accounting records in the company’s computer system, court records show.

Parker used the money to pay for personal expenses, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that when doctors confronted Parker about the embezzlement, she admitted to stealing money. Records show Parker also later admitted to another Piedmont Urgent Care worker that she had been stealing as much as $5,000 a month for five years from the company.

Piedmont Urgent Care was unable to recover from the embezzlement and closed in 2014.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 6:31 AM with the headline "Lincolnton woman sentenced in embezzlement case at urgent care center."