Former UIHC employee sentenced for fraud

IOWA CITY - A former information technology consultant for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was sentenced this week to three years of probation after admitting to buying hundreds of items with university money and reselling them on eBay.

Jennifer Robyn Whitmore-Meier, 37, of Avon, Colo., was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to three counts of mail fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Whitmore-Meier also was ordered to pay $300 to the Crime Victim Fund and restitution.

She worked for the UIHC from 2002 to 2011 and bought at least 567 items with university money without permission between Feb. 8, 2003, and Nov. 2, 2011, according to court documents. Whitmore-Meier then sold the items on eBay for gross proceeds of $122,374.87.

She also used university money to make personal eBay purchases and to pay for accessories, shipping materials, and shipping costs associated with the items she sold on eBay, court documents show. During the nearly nine-year period, Whitmore-Meier electronically transferred $118,553 in proceeds to her personal bank account, according to the documents.

Whitmore-Meier has admitted that she acted with 'intent to defraud” in executing the scheme, a news release said.

Allegations against Whitmore-Meier are cataloged in a state auditor's report following its special investigation of the UIHC's Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation. The report accused Whitmore-Meier of spending $34,314 on improper purchases - like iPods and Xbox games - with her university procurement card and amassing $15,173 in travel costs that were improperly reimbursed to Whitmore-Meier.

In some cases, Whitmore-Meier didn't deposit collections meant for the university, including $1,170 in rebates deposited into her personal account, according to State Auditor David Vaudt. Those undeposited collections also included $876 in products that Whitmore-Meier bought with department money and later returned to the vendor, receiving gift cards in exchange that she used for personal purchases, Vaudt reported.

Among the items Whitmore-Meier is accused of selling on eBay are 288 monitors, 76 Apple Time Capsules, external and internal hard drives, memory sticks, cameras, ink cartridges, iPods, and other electronics.

Vaudt stated in the report that it's possible the amount Whitmore-Meier cost the university is higher, but some items couldn't be tracked.