Monroe woman arrested in company theft

Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 29, 2003

MONROE — A bookkeeper with a history of theft is the focus of a six-month investigation into allegations that she looted her employer’s bank account of more than $43,000.

The 52-year-old Monroe woman was arrested Dec. 22 for investigation of first-degree theft.

Since June, she has been the focus of a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office investigation into allegations that she used her access to the bank account of a Snohomish-based rockery and landscaping business to repeatedly steal cash, according to search warrants filed last week in Snohomish County Superior Court.

The woman helped the company establish its bank account online, and was later issued a cash-machine access card that she was supposed to destroy, documents show.

Company officials became concerned when they tried to check the account balance and found the pass code had been changed. The company closed the account after discovering unauthorized transactions.

Investigators determined that from November 2002 to May 2003, there were 221 unauthorized transactions on the account for a total of $43,670. The majority of the transactions were for purchases of items ranging from household appliances to radar detectors to storm doors. But there also were nearly 70 withdrawals at cash machines for approximately $20,000, documents show.

When confronted by her employer, the woman allegedly asked how she was going to repay the money if she was in jail. Detectives discovered that she ha a 1992 felony theft conviction in Chelan County.

Detectives this month received a judge’s permission to arrest the woman and seize her computers. The company is missing records and is concerned that the woman may have used her computer to remotely access its computer system.

Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.