Maria E. Trenam, Wire Fraud, Georgia 2016

Former office manager Maria E. Trenam, 52, of Cumming, Georgia, previously of Warner Robins, Georgia, was handed down a 60-month prison sentence for one count of wire fraud on September 30, 2016, by the Honorable Marc T. Treadwell, U. S. District Court Judge, in Macon, Georgia.

As part of her sentence, Trenam was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,178,736.90 and was forced to forfeit certain property obtained through the fraud, including a bank account, a house, an automobile, and a diamond ring. After imprisonment, she will be required to serve a term of supervised release for three years.

Trenam was the office manager of Surgical Associates of Warner Robins, P.C., in Warner Robins, Georgia. Surgical Associates is a healthcare benefit program providing surgical and other medical services to individuals under public and private plans.

Between March 31, 2011, and August 11, 2015, Trenam used her position to embezzle money from Surgical Associates totaling $1,178,736.90. The funds were embezzled through various means, including making unauthorized cash withdrawals at automated teller machines of financial institutions utilizing her business credit card, writing unauthorized checks to herself on business accounts and concealing the unauthorized checks by falsifying bookkeeping ledger entries, increasing her salary without authorization, and using her business credit card to make unauthorized purchases of goods and services.

The case was investigated by the Macon Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and by the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Paul C. McCommon III prosecuted the case on behalf of the Government.

U.S. Attorney G.F. Peterman, III stated, “Trenam stole a huge sum of money, more than many people would make in their lifetime. Making it even worse, she stole from her employer, who had trusted her with access to and control over its financial assets. The greed and abuse of trust this theft demonstrates certainly called for the sentence imposed on Trenam today.”

Pamela Lightsey can be reached at the United States Attorney’s Office at 478-621-2603 for inquiries regarding the case.

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