A former Oregon Health Authority employee is accused of embezzling nearly $1.5 million in COVID-19 funds. The state Department of Justice has requested a warrant for Marzieh Abedin’s arrest after an investigation uncovered a scheme at the health authority.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Abedin was indicted by a Marion County grand jury on 21 criminal counts including felony theft, identity theft and forgery.
Abedin had been responsible for coordinating the approval of vendors requesting funds from the heath agency for the state’s COVID-19 vaccination response. During the summer of 2021, prosecutors say, she used her position to create fraudulent invoices for sham companies. State justice department lawyers say she would then create fake records of the approval process, and would authorize payments to bank accounts she had opened. OHA caught the fraud and reported it to the Oregon Department of Justice, which began an investigation last November.
“Fortunately this fraud was caught by OHA and immediately referred to our Criminal Justice team,” Rosenblum said in a statement. “We were able to quickly follow the money through various bank accounts and recover nearly all of it. Let this be a warning to anyone looking to personally benefit from a public health emergency — no one, state employee or otherwise, is above the law.”
During the investigation, the Oregon Department of Justice recovered all but $6,800 of nearly $1.5 million stolen from the Oregon Health Authority, according to the agency.