Kansas therapist wrote herself 347 unauthorized checks from nonprofit; license suspended
A Kansas respiratory therapist convicted of stealing over half a million dollars from a nonprofit group has had her medical license indefinitely suspended.
Sylvia M. Obaya, 49, of Topeka, pleaded guilty in November 2023 and was convicted on one count of bank fraud. She was sentenced in February 2024 to serve 21 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay over $500,000 in restitution, federal court documents show.
She earned a license to practice respiratory therapy in Kansas in April 1999, and it was active during the allegations against her. Her license was suspended this month, a consent order from the Kansas Board of Healing Arts shows.
Obaya was employed by the Kansas Masonic Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Kansas Masons, according to a filed court complaint.
She served as the accounting manager for the Topeka-based nonprofit between 2015 to 2022 and was responsible for writing and administering checks, the consent order shows.
Sometime between August 2015 and September 2022, she wrote herself 347 unauthorized checks from the nonprofit’s scholarship, loan and operating accounts.
“[This] scheme resulted in the defendant [Obaya] receiving approximately $554,491.19 to which she was not entitled to,” court documents said.
Between 2015 to 2021, Obaya wrote herself 280 checks totaling $457,780 from the scholarship and loan accounts. She also wrote herself 67 checks from the operating account between 2019 to 2022 totaling $96,711, the consent order shows.
Obaya “would alter copies of the returned checks written to herself... to make it appear that the checks were written to another payee,” according to the consent order. “The defendant would then throw away the original checks.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 7:08 PM.