Crown Point Woman Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison For Wire Fraud
HAMMOND – Loraine Duchscher, 52 years old, of Crown Point, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Gretchen S. Lund after pleading guilty to wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Adam L. Mildred.
Duchscher was sentenced to 46 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $150,153.12 in restitution.
According to documents in the case, between April 2021 and October 2023, Duchscher worked as an office manager for a small business in East Chicago. In that capacity, she was responsible for processing payroll for each bi-weekly pay period, and she had unsupervised access to the company’s bank account and payroll software. During the first few months of her employment, Duchscher built goodwill with the company and convinced the owner to switch to a different payroll system. After that, she began fraudulently increasing the amount of her paychecks and awarding herself vacation pay to which she was not entitled, all without the knowledge or permission of the company. Over the course of the scheme, she defrauded the company out of $150,153.12, which she spent on travel, entertainment, restaurants, cosmetic procedures, a vehicle, and large cash withdrawals.
Duchscher committed this offense both while she was on pretrial release and after pleading guilty and awaiting sentencing in another federal case in which she defrauded a different employer out of $490,958.35. That case involved similar circumstances in which she, in her role as office manager, manipulated payroll data to steal from the company. For that offense, she was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. Prior to that, Duchscher defrauded a third employer out of $53,616.94 through her unauthorized use of credit cards. For that offense, she was convicted of fraud in state court and sentenced to probation.
“Duchscher is a serial con artist who has defrauded three employers—all small businesses in northwest Indiana—out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. She brazenly abused the trust these businesses placed in her, all to fund her own lavish lifestyle,” said United States Attorney Mildred. “I am grateful to federal law enforcement for their relentless pursuit of this case, ensuring that Duchscher was brought to justice yet again.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven J. Lupa.
