Heather Leigh Migliore, Wire Fraud, Iowa 2024

A Waukon woman, Heather Leigh Migliore, 52, has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison for embezzling over $200,000 from her employer.

Migliore, the former office manager of a tax preparation business with offices in Waukon and Decorah, pleaded guilty on July 19, 2023, to one count of wire fraud.

According to the plea agreement, Migliore wrote over 600 fraudulent checks for her own benefit from the business’s checking accounts without her employer’s knowledge or permission.

Migliore also used one of the business’s credit cards to make over 200 fraudulent charges. The owner of the business had to use a home equity line of credit to pay its bills during this timeframe.

In early 2021, Migliore made false statements to the State of Iowa to obtain approximately $900 in federally funded, COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

Migliore was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. She was ordered to make $229,351 in restitution and serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.

There is no parole in the federal system. Migliore was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and investigated by the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office.

Migliore’s sentence serves as a reminder of the serious consequences of embezzlement and the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions.

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