A lady from Luzerne County who dealt with funds for a neighborhood church will spend time in federal jail after admitting she secretly funneled church cash to fund her gambling habit.
Gail Nossavage, 62, of Harding, Pennsylvania, obtained a 15 month jail sentence after pleading responsible to 1 depend of wire fraud in federal courtroom. U.S. District Decide Karoline Mehalchick handed down the sentence December 3, 2025, in Scranton, in accordance with federal prosecutors.
Investigators say Nossavage labored as an administrative assistant for the church and was trusted with dealing with key monetary duties. Between April 2020 and December 2021, she managed financial collections and was accountable for overseeing deposits tied to church funds. Authorities later decided that the entry allowed her to quietly redirect cash for her personal private use.
Luzerne lady’s playing losses tied to stolen church funds
Prosecutors with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Center District of Pennsylvania mentioned the fraud relied on repeated monetary transactions that moved church cash into accounts managed by Nossavage. In response to investigators, the exercise continued for greater than a yr earlier than it was found.
FBI investigators later reviewed financial institution information and located that Nossavage had made at the least 115 deposits into her private checking account utilizing funds that weren’t reliable funds to her. The deposits, authorities mentioned, concerned cash belonging to the church fairly than approved wages or reimbursements.
Investigators additionally decided that she used church bank cards with out approval from church management. Prosecutors mentioned a few of the prices had been internally labeled with descriptions equivalent to “bonuses,” “miscellaneous,” “trip,” and “journey.” The labels helped disguise spending that was not approved by the church.
Federal authorities mentioned a major share of the stolen cash finally went towards on-line playing exercise. Data reviewed through the investigation confirmed the church funds had been repeatedly routed into accounts related to playing platforms.
As a part of the sentence, the courtroom ordered Nossavage to repay $184,724.68 to cowl the monetary losses brought on by the scheme. Along with the jail time period, she should serve three years of supervised launch after finishing her sentence.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation performed the investigation that uncovered the fraudulent exercise. Assistant U.S. Legal professional Luisa Honora Berti prosecuted the case for the federal authorities.
Prosecutors mentioned circumstances like this typically happen when a trusted worker has common entry to monetary techniques and inside accounts. With out sturdy oversight, they mentioned, fraudulent transactions can proceed for lengthy intervals earlier than anybody notices irregularities.
On this case, authorities mentioned Nossavage’s function overseeing church funds allowed her to repeatedly transfer cash with out fast detection.
Featured picture: Gail Nossavage by way of Fb
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