MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Roslyn Melodie Haile, age 64, of Ardmore, Oklahoma entered a guilty plea to an Information charging her with one count of Bank Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344(2) and one count of Tax Fraud, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1). Bank Fraud is punishable by up to 30 years of imprisonment, a fine up to $1,000,000.00, or both. Tax Fraud is punishable by up to 3 years of imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000.00, or both.
The Information alleged that on or about June 27, 2018, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, Roslyn Melodie Haile, for the purpose of executing or attempting to execute a scheme or artifice to obtain money, funds, credits, assets, securities, or other property under the custody and control of BancFirst, the defendant knowingly embezzled funds from the More Foundation’s BancFirst account by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representation or promises. The Information further alleged that on September 9, 2019, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the defendant willfully made and subscribed a false 2018 Form 1040, U.S. Individual Tax Return, which contained and was verified by a written declaration that it was made under the penalties of perjury and which the defendant did not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter, in that she knowingly failed to report $63,490.54 of income.
As part of the plea hearing, the defendant acknowledged that beginning prior to 2017 and continuing through in and around June 2021, she served as the Executive Director of the More Foundation, a charitable foundation based in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The defendant admitted that between in and around 2017 and in and around May 2021, she embezzled funds from the More Foundation and that her actions resulted in a total loss of $428,271.26 to the More Foundation. The defendant further acknowledged that her failure to report her true income on her taxes resulted in loss to the U.S. Treasury of $120,777.02.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigations.
The Honorable Jason A. Robertson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.
Assistant United States Attorney Kara Traster represented the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys