Former IT administrator for Pardee Hospital indicted on charges he embezzled, stole more than $615,000 in hospital computer equipment

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Joel Kimble, the former information technology administrator for Pardee Hospital in Henderson County, stole and embezzled more than $615,000 in computer equipment from the hospital and the technology company Cisco Systems Inc., a federal indictment handed down Dec. 7 alleges.

Kimble engaged in a scheme to defraud the hospital and technology company by obtaining replacement computer equipment through false warranty claims, the indictment states. The equipment stolen or fraudulently obtained was sometimes delivered to Kimble’s Arden home, rather than the hospital, and sold for personal gain, according to the indictment.

The indictment describes a “grey market” for computer goods. The grey market is a network of dealers who are not authorized by the original or licensing companies, though the dealers can legally by and sell the brand name equipment. The grey market can be used to distribute stolen, damaged or counterfeit goods, according to the indictment.

It was a grey market dealer that notified Pardee Hospital officials in spring 2008 that it purchased from a third party equipment that it had sold to Pardee just a month earlier. That triggered a Pardee audit in which the hospital discovered that equipment valued at more than $315,000 couldn’t be located. 

The case continues in February in U.S. District Court in Asheville.

Click here to read the full indictment.