Horseshoe Bend Woman Indicted for Wire Fraud

BOISE – Lois Soito, 60, of Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, was indicted August 14, 2019, by a federal grand jury on ten counts of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.  The indictment stems from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Boise Police Department.  The investigation was prompted by information uncovered by the Saint Alphonsus Health System.

As alleged in the indictment, Soito worked for the Saint Alphonsus Health System (SAHS) for approximately 22 years.  From at least 2005 and continuing until January 2019, it is alleged that Soito defrauded SAHS and controlled at least $1,000,000 in unrecovered forfeitable property.  The indictment further alleges that she collected and kept miscellaneous checks intended for SAHS rather than depositing them into the appropriate SAHS account.  It is further alleged that Soito fraudulently deposited some of the miscellaneous checks she collected into the Employee Support Team bank account.  Then, it is alleged, that Soito wrote Employee Support Team checks payable to herself and deposited them into accounts that she controlled.  Soito allegedly wrote the checks to include the amount of miscellaneous checks she fraudulently deposited in the Employee Support Team account.  For example, on or about June 22, 2018, it is alleged that Soito deposited an Employee Support Team check in the amount of $21,063.56, into her bank account.

It is further alleged in the indictment that Soito collected the cash from the Festival of Trees, under the guise of depositing it into the proper bank account.  The indictment further alleges that instead of depositing the cash in the appropriate account, Soito kept the cash and substituted miscellaneous checks for the deposit.

The maximum punishment for wire fraud is 20 years imprisonment, up to 3 years supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Boise Police Department.

An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity.  It is not evidence. A person is presumed innocent until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.