Hawthorne City Treasurer Marie Poindexter-Hornback has taken a leave of absence, the city confirmed Thursday to NBC4, amid being named in a federal grand jury indictment stemming from her work with a previous employer.
Poindexter-Hornback, a former accountant with Fidelity responsible for accounts payable, is accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from Fidelity by allegedly approving fraudulent payments and making personal expenditures, according to the indictment filed in September.
“The City is aware of recently announced federal criminal charges against elected City Treasurer Marie Poindexter. While the Treasurer reports only to City voters, the City has agreed with the Treasurer that she will take a leave of absence from her duties until such proceedings have concluded. The City’s Director of Finance will perform the Treasurer’s duties during her absence. Beyond this, the City will have no further comment out of respect for the court process,” wrote the City of Hawthorne in a statement to NBC4.
The case stems from payments and purchases made between June 2023 and July 2024. The former employer alleges Poindexter-Hornback used the company’s Amazon account to make purchases for “non-Fidelity-related” purposes and instead for personal use.
Poindexter-Hornback was also accused of fraudulently altering checks issued to the company’s vendors. The defendant allegedly changed the names of the payees to two individuals, “R.J.” and “D.M.”, neither of which were Fidelity vendors.
The scheme led to company losses totaling up to more than an estimated $200,000, according to the indictment.
Poindexter-Hornback was elected Hawthorne treasurer in 2022 and made history as the first Black woman to hold the position.
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