A former Oklahoma claim manager recently pleaded guilty to fivefelony counts of grand larceny by fraud. According to the OklahomaAttorney General's Office, Rhonda Bonnewell allegedly presentedinformation to the Oklahoma Restaurant Group Self InsuranceAssociation showing that money was owed on five separate workers'compensation claims.

Bonnewell's employment with the Oklahoma Restaurant Group wasterminated in March 2006 after she had been there for nine years.She stole funds from the Oklahoma Restaurant group to pay 10separate expenses on five different dates from Oct. 2003 to July2005. Investigator Carl Reed reported that he was provided with 10total checks that were believed to be written by Bonnewell forpayments on her personal accounts. Reed conducted the investigationby obtaining records and speaking with representatives from thebusinesses that Bonnewell made checks out to, and confirmed theaccount numbers on the checks matched Bonnewell's personalaccounts. The total amount of the falsely obtained checks wasalmost $13,000, which was posted as expenses on workers'compensation claims and went to Bonnewell's personal use.

An affidavit from the attorney general's office stated thatOklahoma Restaurant Group CFO Jim Barnes informed investigatorsthat Bonnewell regularly delivered checks pertaining to claims toother employees for signatures, but her duties as claim manager didnot authorize her to sign checks that were relevant to claims.Bonnewell was able to create checks twice a week by inputtinginformation into a computer program that would generate the checkand required no invoice to accompany it to be legitimate.

The Oklahoma Restaurant Group Self Insurance Association wasaudited following some complaints concerning claim management, butBonnewell had already been terminated. The affidavit states thatthe audit revealed several checks had been written to vendors thatwere not typically associated with workers' compensation claims.The auditors identified three payments that appeared to have beenmade on the accounts of Rhonda or Todd Bonnewell.

“Rhonda Bonnewell was ordered to pay $12,901.92 in restitutionand serve a five-year deferred sentence,” said Oklahoma AttorneyGeneral Drew Edmondson in a release. “She will also pay court costsand a victims' compensation assessment.”