Ex-Wenatchee Health Care CEO Sentenced To 4 Years Prison For Embezzling $24 Million

A former Wenatchee health care executive has been sentenced to four years in federal prison.

The 48-month term was handed down to 55-year-old Patrick Alan Bucknum by Judge Thomas O. Rice in U.S. District Court in Spokane on Wednesday.

Bucknum's sentence stems from his guilty plea to charges of wire fraud connected to his embezzlement of almost $25 million over a seven-year period while he was the Chief Executive Officer of Wenatchee-based Community Clinic Network (CCN).

The business managed health care payment contracts for a conglomerate of health care clinics throughout Washington and his time with the company followed his tenure as CEO of Columbia Valley Community Health from 2010-2016.

Court documents indicate that beginning in 2017, Bucknum devised a scheme to illegally obtain funds from CCN's bank accounts and use them to invest in stocks, options, and exchange-traded funds.

Bucknam initially intended to keep only the profits from the investments and return the embezzled funds to CCN, but ended up losing a majority of the money he took due to poor trading choices.

As a result, Bucknum embezzled additional funds from CCN in an attempt to recover the losses, using his background in accounting and finance to conceal his illegal actions.

Bucknum also stole money from CCN for personal purchases, including $100,000 for a new pickup truck; $77,000 for a new car; $33,000 for a boat; and $1,199,000 for precious metal coins.

Prosecutors say between 2017 and 2023, Bucknum embezzled approximately $30 million from CCN for investments and returned about $7 million, resulting in total losses to the company of $24,368,427.37.

In addition to the time in prison, Bucknum was also ordered to forfeit the two vehicles, boat, and coins, along with whatever balance he had in his personal bank accounts, and pay restitution in the full amount of the losses he caused CCN.

He will also serve three years of supervised custody after being released.