SAN FRANCISCO — A former federal worker was given three years probation for an embezzlement scheme that targeted a particularly vulnerable demographic: the families of dead military veterans.
While working at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Bella Phoenix overcharged veterans’ families for funeral costs and pocketed the difference, once even brazenly showing up to the home of a man whose father had recently died to take $800 in cash when the victim’s credit card had been declined, prosecutors said.
Phoenix ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and received the three-year probation term from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, court records show.
The plea agreement covered two crimes in 2021: Phoenix pocketing $800 from one veteran’s son, and taking $3,860 from another veteran’s family. In the latter case, the veteran was still alive at the time, but she convinced the family it would be cheaper to pre-pay for the funeral, prosecutors said in court filings.
In both cases, no payment was required. In the $800 theft, she first tried to get the victim to scan his card on her personal credit card scanner, then showed up to his home to retrieve the cash after his card was declined, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors asked for the three-year probation term, arguing that it struck a balance between the seriousness of the offense and Phoenix having endured “difficult personal circumstances that include financial hardship.” She was also ordered to pay roughly $5,753 in restitution.