A former Oklahoma claim manager recently pleaded guilty to five felony counts of grand larceny by fraud. According to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, Rhonda Bonnewell allegedly presented information to the Oklahoma Restaurant Group Self Insurance Association showing that money was owed on five separate workers' compensation claims.

Bonnewell's employment with the Oklahoma Restaurant Group was terminated in March 2006 after she had been there for nine years. She stole funds from the Oklahoma Restaurant group to pay 10 separate expenses on five different dates from Oct. 2003 to July 2005. Investigator Carl Reed reported that he was provided with 10 total checks that were believed to be written by Bonnewell for payments on her personal accounts. Reed conducted the investigation by obtaining records and speaking with representatives from the businesses that Bonnewell made checks out to, and confirmed the account numbers on the checks matched Bonnewell's personal accounts. The total amount of the falsely obtained checks was almost $13,000, which was posted as expenses on workers' compensation claims and went to Bonnewell's personal use.

An affidavit from the attorney general's office stated that Oklahoma Restaurant Group CFO Jim Barnes informed investigators that Bonnewell regularly delivered checks pertaining to claims to other employees for signatures, but her duties as claim manager did not authorize her to sign checks that were relevant to claims. Bonnewell was able to create checks twice a week by inputting information into a computer program that would generate the check and required no invoice to accompany it to be legitimate.