Embezzlement in the News

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SoccerMom
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Embezzlement in the News

Post by SoccerMom »

There has been so many stories lately of people embezzling from their place of work, or as in the story below, from organizations they volunteer. It amazes me that people don't think they won't be caught!

woman faces charges of embezzling from bellwood boy scouts pack

By CHRISTINA PRYOR
Editor
February 26, 2008


Tricia Ann Bowers, 36, of Bells Lane, Tyrone is accused of theft by unlawful taking or disposition, receiving stolen property and forgery. The victim is the Bellwood Boy Scouts of America Pack No. 28.
Bowers has been arrested for embezzling approximately $17,335.20 from the Boy Scouts Pack No. 28 accounts from the time period of January 20, 2006 to January 17, 2007.
According to the police report, she wrote 59 checks to herself and her husband from the Boy Scouts checking accounts. She is accused of signing another woman’s name to the checks.
The Boy Scouts Pack also had money missing from hoagie and popcorn sales accounts.
It was reported that several family members began making payments on the accounts on behalf of Bowers to begin paying some of the things off. Her father paid down the hoagie account to $3,405.50 and her husband paid the Penn’s Woods Council account down to $666.90. Her mother paid off the popcorn sales.
Bowers was arraigned on February 25 before Magisterial District Judge Fred B. Miller. Bond has been set at $100,000 unsecured, with special conditions.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for March 4 at Judge Miller’s office.
SoccerMom
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If Mike has 13 apples, and gives six to Jane, how many does he have left?: 13
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Re: Embezzlement in the News

Post by SoccerMom »

And this, where we buy our dog supplies:

Stolen $200,000 won’t kill business
By Greg Bock, gbock@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: February 19, 2008 Save | Print | Email | Read comments | Post a comment

TYRONE — The alleged embezzlement of $200,000 by two former employees hasn’t seriously affected the health of a Snyder County business, its chief operating officer said this week.

“It certainly isn’t an insignificant amount,” Lion Country Supply Chief Operating Officer Randy Carlson said of the $203,022.35 state police allege was stolen by Crystal R. Colyer and Karen L. Kopera from 2005-07.

Colyer, 39, was an office manager and Kopera, 43, was an assistant manager at the 34-year-old hunting dog supplier on Route 220 near Port Matilda. Police claim the pair siphoned money from the Lion Country Supply merchant services account using the business’ credit card machine.

Carlson stressed that the scheme didn’t involve customer credit card accounts. He said it first came to light last summer.

“There were some things that just didn’t make sense,” Carlson said.

A review of the books ultimately led to an investigation by state police on Oct. 29, the same day court documents indicate the pair were fired. Colyer and Kopera were arrested earlier this month and charged separately with stealing $121,560 and $81,461, respectively.

Colyer, who police say admitted to the theft, waived her preliminary hearing last week. Kopera is scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge Fred Miller March 4.

Carlson said owner John Koritko was “surprised and saddened” that two people he had put his trust in and who had previously come to him for help were behind the theft.

“It was disappointing to us,” Carlson said.

In the scheme, the pair credited their own bank and credit card accounts with fraudulent refunds. It involved many small transactions over a long period of time, a factor that made it hard to detect, but also made it less of a financial burden, Carlson said.

He said the company hopes to get the money back if the pair are found guilty, a process he said he knows might take some time.

“We’re certainly hoping restitution is involved,” Carlson said.

Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7446.
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Re: Embezzlement in the News

Post by SoccerMom »

This was in today's Centre Daily Times. We have two vehicles from Cark Motor Company, which closed it's doors last year because of this embezzlement scheme.

Saturday, Mar. 01, 2008
CLARK MOTOR CO.
Feds file fraud charges
Indictment saysmillions takenfrom credit line
- For the CDT
WILLIAMSPORT — The office manager-bookkeeper of the former Clark Motor Co. in College Township is accused of defrauding M&T Bank of more than $9 million by manipulating the line of credit the car dealership used to buy inventory.

An indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury also alleges Sara Marie Smith, 41, of Pine Grove Mills, of writing checks to herself and writing checks to pay off personal vehicle loans.

The indictment charging her with bank fraud and false statements alleges she used the M&T Dealer Access System to fraudulently transfer to the business checking account about $9 million in floor plan loan advances for the acquisition of new and used vehicles that never were in Clark’s inventory.

A search warrant affidavit states that an audit showed the exact amount to be $9,309,777. The actual loss incurred by Clark, according to the indictment, was $1,580,173.

Smith was responsible for the daily administration of the floor plan account and she was the only employee with access to the M&T Dealer Access System used to conduct business with respect to the floor plan line of credit, the charges state.

Her responsibilities included making entries in the bank system to obtain advances against the floor plan loan and transferring loan advances to the dealership business account, also at M&T. She also issued payroll checks at Clark.

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Smith was fired Jan. 23, 2007, about the time owners Robert and David Clark told State College police they suspected her of embezzlement. The FBI later took over the investigation.

Between November 2005 and when she was terminated, Smith is accused of fraudulently inflating the value of the inventory by obtaining, via the Internet, identification numbers for numerous vehicles.

She is accused of entering

the numbers into the M&T Dealer Access System to make it appear as if the dealership had purchased the vehicles. Smith also overvalued new and used cars on the Clark lot, the indictment charges.

The alleged scheme detailed in the indictment included the regular transfer of money back to M&T to make it appear the floor plan account was being credited with amounts from the sale of vehicles — vehicles that actually were never in the Clark inventory. It also involved her making fraudulent entries in dealership records.

Smith also is accused of issuing checks to herself by forging signatures of authorized signers, paying herself commissions to which she was not entitled, inflating her payroll checks by adding overtime and making false claims to the Internal Revenue Service for tax refunds.

And the indictment charges her with writing checks totaling $28,938 on the dealership account made payable to consumer loan companies to pay off loans on vehicles belonging to herself and her husband.

Smith is accused of issuing inflated payroll checks to herself totaling $13,457 and forging checks amounting to $17,056 that were drawn on the business account and made payable to herself.

Clark has a federal civil suit pending against M&T in which the bank is accused of negligence for not detecting the false floor plan information. The bank is fighting the suit.
SoccerMom
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Re: Embezzlement in the News

Post by SoccerMom »

I think this topic would make a good investigative report. The economy is tanking, the markets are volatile, people are losing their jobs and losing their money. Meanwhile the cost of everything is sky-rocketing. Are people so desperate it clouds their thinking, and they convince themselves they won't get caught? It would be interesting to know the mindset and circumstances that goes along with this behavior. It would also be interesting to know if these types of cases are on the rise, or are they just getting more press time.
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banksy
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Re: Embezzlement in the News

Post by banksy »

SoccerMom wrote:I think this topic would make a good investigative report. The economy is tanking, the markets are volatile, people are losing their jobs and losing their money. Meanwhile the cost of everything is sky-rocketing. Are people so desperate it clouds their thinking, and they convince themselves they won't get caught? It would be interesting to know the mindset and circumstances that goes along with this behavior. It would also be interesting to know if these types of cases are on the rise, or are they just getting more press time.
Whether they think they can be caught or not is less important than to the moral values they reflect.
SoccerMom
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Posts: 202
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:18 am
If Mike has 13 apples, and gives six to Jane, how many does he have left?: 13
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Re: Embezzlement in the News

Post by SoccerMom »

"Whether they think they can be caught or not is less important than to the moral values they reflect."

So true, Banksy. And in the case of the woman embezzling money from the boy scouts, look at the example she is setting for those kids. What kind of person steals from their own kids? Unbelievable!
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