Norma Galagarza, 68, of Chalfont. (Credit: Bucks County District Attorney)
A former director of Doylestown Hospital pleaded guilty Monday to embezzling more than $600,000 from a charitable account, and received five years’ probation and no jail time, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
Norma Galagarza, 68, of Chalfont, pled to felony counts of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, forgery, access device fraud, and computer trespass, authorities said.
Galagarza faced six to 14 months in prison on the offenses, according to the DA, but Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley sentenced her to five years’ probation.
Authorities said Galagarza has paid back all the money she stole -- $604,702.29 – to the Doylestown Hospital Medical Staff.
“I want to thank Doylestown Hospital Staff for acting quickly and diligently when the Defendant’s thefts were discovered. The Defendant was able to keep her thefts hidden for many years. Thanks to the Hospital’s quick actions and top-notch investigative work by Detectives, the Commonwealth was able to secure this conviction and the full payment of restitution to Doylestown Hospital Medical Staff,” said Deputy District Attorney Mark J. Furber in a press release.
Galagarza retired from Doylestown Hospital in March 2021, where her duties included overseeing a charitable account set up by the Medical Executive Committee for charitable donations, per the district attorney. The Charitable Fund account was created in 1991 as a benevolent fund to make charitable contributions to the community and employees in need.
The account was funded by donations made by physician leaders and was managed by the Director of Medical Staff, per reports.
The investigation by Bucks County detectives and the Doylestown Township Police Department began in January 2022 when the hospital Board of Directors reported they began receiving insufficient funds charges on one of the accounts they were unaware was open and discovered the alleged embezzlement, authorities said.
In 2007, the Medical Executive Committee stopped receiving monthly statements on the account and the account went dormant, police said. It was not until the board began receiving insufficient funds notices that they realized the account was still open.
Hospital personnel reviewed prior bank statements and found unauthorized account activity, including unauthorized withdrawals and deposits, police said, totaling more than $55,000 from October 2020 to December 2021.
Officials also discovered the mailing address of the account was charged to Galagarza’s home address, police said. Galagarza was the sole person responsible for reporting all monies spent, police said.
Detectives obtained search warrants and analyzed Galagarza’s expenses, discovering she allegedly made 896 unauthorized transactions totaling $604,702.29 from 2008 to 2021, police said.
Galagarza allegedly used the money to pay personal taxes, real estate taxes, cell phone bills, car payments, and personal credit accounts, police said.
