Statewide grand jury indicts woman for alleged embezzlement from small medical clinic in Gunnison County and tax evasion
Feb. 23, 2022 (DENVER)—The statewide grand jury indicted Barbara Helen Rider for illegally taking more than $800,000 from Gunnison Valley Family Physicians over a 14-year period while she was the office manager for the medical practice located in Gunnison, Attorney General Phil Weiser announced today.
The indictment alleges that between Jan. 1, 2005, and Dec. 2, 2019, Rider illegally took or withdrew approximately $859,968 in business funds from GVFP without authorization for her personal use, to include making payments on personal credit cards, writing and cashing checks to herself, and using the medical practice’s business credit card for personal expenditures. Rider allegedly disguised the unauthorized transactions in the business’s financial records to conceal them and make them appear business-related. She is also accused of altering the business’s financial records to conceal her failure to repay a $20,000 personal loan she received from the GVFP partners in 2018.
In addition to theft, Rider faces charges for filing false tax returns for tax years 2015 to 2018, court documents show.
“Small businesses have long been the bedrock of Colorado’s economy and local communities. Losses from business theft have a profound and negative impact on not only the owners and employees of small businesses, but also on the people they serve,” Weiser said. “We’re committed to holding accountable those who engage in business theft and harm the community.”
Rider is charged with 10 counts of felony theft (F3, F4) and four counts of filing a false tax return (F5). The Attorney General’s Office filed the indictment in Denver District Court. The case number is 2022CR015019.
The investigation in this case was possible due to the dedication of the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Revenue Criminal Tax Enforcement Section.
A grand jury indictment is merely a formal accusation that an individual committed a crime under Colorado laws. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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