A former office manager for a La Jolla healthcare provider has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for stealing $349,144.72, with the judge ordering her to pay all of it back.
“I will pay them back, even to my last dollar,” promised Ana Phimmasone, as she stood before U.S. District Court Judge Linda Lopez on Nov. 14.
Lopez allowed Phimmasone, 38, to remain free on $5,000 bond until she surrenders to prison on Feb. 21, 2023.
Phimmasone apologized to the owner of La Jolla Nurses Homecare, who was seated next to Assistant U.S. Attorney Oleksandra Johnson, in court.
“I know any time you give me, I deserve,” said Phimmasone to the judge.
“She’s done a terrible thing and she knows that,” said her attorney, Alexander Fuqua, who described her as “absolutely remorseful.”
Phimmasone, who is also known under her maiden name of Ana Bravo, worked in La Jolla from Jan., 2015 to April, 2018. Court records say she is currently working as a project engineer.
Fuqua said Phimmasone supports her parents, her ex-husband’s parents, her son, and a nephew. He asked for a sentence for credit for time served or no more than than 14 months in prison.
Lopez rejected the idea of a time served sentence outright, noting the amount of the loss.
The prosecutor asked for two years in prison, saying “she has yet to pay anything (back) to date.” Johnson said Phimmasone said some of the money was spent on plastic surgery, vehicles, and trips.
“I spent most of my adult life running this company,” said the firm’s owner, who did not give her name, to the judge. “This could put the company out of business.”
She said elderly patients still remember being cheated by Phimmasone, and one 95-year-old man asked her this question the other day, saying “Has this girl who stole that money from me gone to jail yet?”
“Ana and I worked together for three years. Ana was more than a co-worker to me,” said a woman to the judge who was seated next to the owner in court and did not give her name. “I could not believe she did such a thing to the patients and to the company.”
Phimmasone’s own credit union stopped accepting checks from her for deposit that were intended for patient care at the firm. She had never received authorization from La Jolla Nursing Homecare to deposit their checks.
She pleaded guilty to wire fraud in Dec., 2021. She used a mobile phone banking app in the transactions, causing an interstate wire on each occasion. She created a fraudulent PayPal account to bill patients’ credit cards and also created false invoices, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
