HAVANA, Fla. (WTXL) — Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested a woman from Bainbridge, Georgia, for defrauding her employer of over $63,000.
According to FDLE, the investigation began in July 2018 when the Havana Police Department requested assistance with a case involving alleged retail theft from a furniture store in Havana.
A manager at the store had reported that when he began to review activity he discovered multiple accounts with false address information, no phone numbers, no identification information copied for the file, no paper file created and no client signatures being obtained, FDLE says.
According to the report, all but one of the accounts had been created by one of the store's employees, 39-year-old Shendora Vonta Adams.
FDLE says Adams was using her unique employee personal identification number.
The one fraudulent account had been created using a separate employee identification number; however, that employee had left the store months before the account was created.
FDLE said it also appeared that multiple accounts were created with personal information of prisoners in the Georgia Department of Corrections, a deceased person and associates of Adams.
The investigation found Adams used the identities of multiple people without permission to steal $63,449.85 in merchandise from the store between November 2017 and March 2018.
“This type of fraud is a pervasive crime, victimizing individuals whose identity is compromised and the businesses that experience loss,” said Tallahassee Region Special Agent in Charge Mark Perez. “I’m pleased by the dedication and hard work of our agents and the Havana Police Department in solving this case.”
Adams was arrested last Thursday, charged with one count of organized scheme to defraud, a first-degree felony and booked into the Gadsden County Jail.
The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office, 2nd Judicial Circuit.
