Former CFO Of Little Rock Pediatric Clinic Gets Two Years In Federal Prison For $540,000 Theft; Amex Sued Her Weeks Before Plea

LITTLE ROCK — A Benton accountant who ran the finances of a Little Rock pediatric practice and wired more than half a million dollars of its money to herself over three and a half years was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison.

Angela M. Hoover, 46, must also pay $540,599 in restitution and serve a year of supervised release after prison, Chief U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall Jr. ordered. There is no parole in the federal system.

Hoover, a certified public accountant, was hired as administrator of Arkansas Pediatric Clinic in 2019 and promoted to chief financial officer in 2020, a job that gave her full access to every one of the clinic’s bank accounts, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Between November 2020 and April 2024, prosecutors said, she made about 136 unauthorized wire transfers totaling $271,041 from clinic accounts to pay her personal American Express bill. Between June 2021 and June 2024 she sent about 166 more wires, totaling $372,329, straight into her own bank account. She also paid herself an unauthorized $5,000 bonus.

That is roughly 300 transfers, or about one every four days for the length of the scheme.

Hoover was charged by criminal information May 13, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud the same day. The federal docket shows the case had been in the works for months before that: a defense attorney entered an appearance in January and a hearing was first noticed in February, a sequence typical of a plea negotiated before any charge is filed.

Arkansas Business reported at the time of the plea that Hoover had already repaid $440,599 and owed about $100,000 more.

Three weeks before she pleaded guilty, American Express sued her. The bank’s April 21 complaint in Saline County Circuit Court says Hoover defaulted on a card with a $23,700 limit and owes $15,754.22. A process server reported in June that she could not be found, and the case remains open. The complaint does not say whether that account is the one she had been paying with the clinic’s money.

Hoover filed for divorce in Saline County in December, and a decree was entered in March, court records show.

Wire fraud carries up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors filed a sentencing memorandum Sept. 3, and the sentencing was held Oct. 1 in Little Rock. U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross announced the sentence Thursday. The office did not say how the clinic discovered the thefts.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacy Williams.