Sandra O. Heningburg, the former executive director of the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, pleaded guilty to embezzlement, credit card forgery and credit card fraud in Alexandria Circuit Court on Jan. 22.
Heningburg, 62, was indicted on the four counts to which she pleaded guilty late last year. Between January, 2002 and July, 2003, she admitted to embezzling approximately $4,000 from the Scholarship Fund and used two fraudulently obtained credit cards to purchase goods in excess of $15,000.
“The Fund caught the embezzlement fairly quickly so the restitution that the defendant owes to the fund will end up being much less than the $4,000,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Elliott Casey, who prosecuted Heningburg.
“The Fund was able to intercept the transfers and get Capitol One to reverse the charges, putting the money back into the Fund’s accounts. Their quick work doesn’t reduce the defendant’s criminal liability for her actions, however.”
According to Casey, the Fund became aware of Heningburg’s activities in July, 2003, when their bookkeeper, Tessie Wilson, discovered that the Fund’s accounts were overdrawn. She informed the Fund’s treasurer, Lynn Hampton, that Heningburg had not provided information about the Fund’s accounts since February, always indicating that she was “too busy.” When Fund Board members confronted Heningburg, she claimed she knew nothing about the matter. She also denied opening credit card accounts in the Fund’s name and the name of her ex-husband. She had opened these two accounts using the Fund’s name and the name of her ex-husband in January, 2002 and in May of that same year.
IN MARCH, 2003, Heningburg began to take Scholarship Fund money and send it to her fraudulent Capitol One account. She authorized a $500 check, payable to Capitol One on March 18; another on April 18; a $1,000 check on May 19; a $1,000 check on June 18 and another $1,000 check on July 14. She wrote these checks on the Scholarship Fund’s petty cash account and, to cover the thefts, on June 1, Heningburg wrote another check for $1,000 on the Fund’s BB&T account into the petty cash account.
When Heningburg denied knowledge of the thefts to Board members, the police began an investigation. After gathering information, Detective Andrew Jessup of the Alexandria Police Department interviewed Heningburg, confronted her with his evidence and she confessed.
She faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 18.