Court: Embezzler Took Advantage Of Computer Illiteracy

CHICAGO (AP) -- A Chicago-based appeals court says a trial judge was right to enhance an embezzler's prison sentence on grounds she took advantage of her Indiana victim's computer illiteracy.

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported Tuesday that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Anastacia Vann Maclin's arguments that her 15-month sentence was too high, including because the judge deemed her victim uniquely vulnerable.

Maclin worked for psychiatrist Farzana Khan's practice in northern Indiana. She was convicted of Medicaid theft for redirecting over $80,000 from Khan's business account to her personal account.

The sentencing judge said he'd never seen anyone "so technologically unsophisticated" as Khan, who neither used email nor banked electronically.

The 7th Circuit said had Khan been adept at monitoring accounts electronically she would have detected the fraud sooner.