San Francisco, California - Michael Livingston Henry was sentenced Wednesday to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution for stealing more than $800,000 from his former employer and her family’s charitable foundation, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Charles R. Breyer.
Henry, 45, of Oakland, pleaded guilty on January 22, 2020. According to the plea agreement, Henry worked from June 2006 to August 2018 as an assistant to a Marin-based philanthropist, assisting her with personal matters and administration of her family’s charitable foundation. While employed there, Henry stole in excess of $800,000 by forging the philanthropist’s signature on hundreds of checks, many of which were made out to Henry personally or to his side business, Hella. The philanthropist was seriously ill with cancer in 2016 and 2017 – a time when Henry continued to be entrusted with full access to financial and account records – and she discovered the embezzlement only after her recovery in 2018.
Henry was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 28, 2019. The fourteen-count Indictment charged him with ten counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344(2), and four counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Henry pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud, and the government agreed to dismiss the remaining charges.
United States District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release to begin at the completion of the prison term and ordered him to pay restitution to the charitable foundation and the philanthropist personally. The defendant will begin serving his sentence on April 19, 2021.
Katherine L. Wawrzyniak is the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Claudia Hyslop and Kimberly Richardson. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.