The former chief financial officer of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) was sentenced to prison and forced to pay restitution after pleading guilty to stealing money from the organization’s health benefit trust account.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Pamela Kahut stole USD 211,083 (EUR 180,173) from the commission between October 2014 and September 2020. At the time, she was serving as PSMFC’s chief financial officer and had access to the health benefit trust account operated for the commission’s employees. Some of the funding in that trust was provided via a federal grant.
Kahut used the money to help pay off her pension loans, credit card bills, and her spouse’s long-term care premiums.
She was first charged with theft in relation to health care in April and pled guilty to the charge in June.
Kahut was sentenced to eight months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for her actions. The court also ordered her to pay USD 211,083 in restitution to PSMFC, as well as a USD 10,000 (EUR 8,536) fine.
