Ex-Administrator At Top Law School Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement

She claimed that she was in financial need, so she forged more than 250 checks to help herself.

It took seven years for Jennifer Ihns, the administrator formerly in charge of Notre Dame Law’s clinical programs, to embezzle nearly $200,000 from the school. Ihns had signing authority for the clinic’s accounts, and she apparently chose to use that signing authority to improve her own financial affairs because she was in need.

After an investigation that began in 2016, Ihns was criminally charged last spring. Here are some of the details uncovered during the investigation, courtesy of Law.com:

Prosecutors charged Ihns in May after an investigation uncovered years of financial fraud. According to charging documents, Ihns wrote checks to herself from the clinic’s operating expenses account and its IOLTA account—an account that holds client funds in trust and bears interest that can be used toward legal aid. Investigators did not find evidence that Ihns stole directly from clinic clients, but said the full extent of her thefts might exceed $199,000.

“The breadth of her illicit activities may never be fully known,” reads a supplemental affidavit submitted by an investigator from the St. Joseph’s County prosecutor’s office. …

Prosecutors said she began stealing from the clinic almost immediately after she was hired. They found evidence of 255 forged checks.

Ihns was supposed to stand trial this week; instead, it looks like she’s taken a plea.

On February 6, Ihns pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft, one count of forgery, and one count of corrupt business influence. She must pay Notre Dame $199,000 in restitution, and will be sentenced on April 13. A university spokesman said, “The criminal justice system has addressed this matter appropriately. Thankfully, there were no adverse consequences for our clients or the center itself.”

Ex-Notre Dame Law Clinic Administrator Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement [Law.com]

Earlier: Top Law School Admin Charged With Embezzlement

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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