A True Story Round-up for August 3, 2010:

Our first story is a doozie from Oakland.  A bookkeeper has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of embezzling $240,000 from three small-businesses.  She was depositing checks intended for third-party vendors into her own bank account.

Story #2 keeps us in California.   A bookkeeper made numerous unauthorized transfers from the company’s retirement funds to cover up her embezzlement and also diverted money meant to pay employees’ health care premiums.  The police made sure she didn’t post bail using the stolen funds.

Across the U.S.A. to Florida for story #3.  An office manager at a Clearwater law firm has been charged with stealing $176,000 over six years.  Detectives said of the $176,000 she stole, some $46,000 were in checks she wrote to herself, and about $130,000 were checks to credit cards and other third parties.

I couldn’t pass on a headline like this… “Meat distributor has beef with employee for taking money“.  She stole $50,000 taking $100 at a time.

There was a story a few weeks ago about fraud being lower in the bible belt.  What surprises me is the amount of fraud actually perpetrated by church employees.  Here’s a story about a bookkeeper who stole $360,000 from a church in Wisconsin.

If you have stories to share, send them to truestories@auditmybooks.com.  If we publish them, we’ll give you full credit and a link back to your site.

-CP Morey