MUSKOGEE – Roslyn Melodie Haile, age 64, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for one count of Bank Fraud and one count of Tax Fraud, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced last week. The sentences are to be served concurrently, followed by three years of supervised release.
In addition, Haile was ordered to pay $428,271.26 in restitution to The MORE Foundation, and to pay an additional $120,777.02 in restitution to the IRS.
The charges arose from investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigations.
On Feb. 28, 2023, Haile entered a plea of guilty to an information of one count of bank fraud and one count of tax fraud.
According to investigators, from 2017 until mid-2021, while employed as Executive Director of The MORE Foundation, a nonprofit that funds continuing education scholarships to Carter County high school graduates, Haile embezzled over $428,271.26 from the foundation’s bank accounts for personal use.
During that time, Haile embezzled funds through multiple different means, including bank transfers to pay off her personal credit card, ATM withdrawals and the issuance of fraudulent payroll checks to herself.
Haile also falsified a 2018 U.S. Individual Tax Return by underreporting personal income, resulting in a total loss of $120,777.02 to the U.S. Treasury. Based on these crimes, the court assessed Haile a total restitution of $591,761.28.
“As Executive Director of The MORE Foundation, Ms. Haile had the fundamental responsibility of managing scholarship funds efficiently, ethically, and with the utmost integrity. The students of Carter County and the generous donors deserve nothing less,” said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Gray. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue those who unlawfully enrich themselves at the expense of others.”
“The financial expertise of IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents was critical in detecting the illegal activity of Ms. Haile,” said Christopher J. Altemus Jr., IRS:CI special agent in charge of the Dallas Field Office.
“She willfully stole money from an organization devoted to helping people obtain higher education and knowingly falsified her taxes to hide her ill-gotten gains. I’m proud of the diligent work done by members of CI along with the FBI to uncover her illegal actions and hold her accountable. Between what she embezzled from the non-profit and withheld from the IRS, she stole more than half a million dollars. In addition to time in jail, she is also required to pay restitution as part of her sentencing.”
“Fraud is not a victimless crime: Ms. Haile abused her position and plundered a fund she knew was intended to benefit Carter County’s students and greater community,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. “This office stands firm in its commitment to prosecute those who engage in predatory schemes, and I commend the work of FBI and IRS-CI agents whose investigations uncovered Ms. Haile’s years-long theft.”
The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. Haile will self-report on May 1, 2024, to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kara Traster and Kyra Jenner represented the United States.
