Leslie Lebel used to work in the finance department for the City of Bloomington, Illinois. After seven years on the job, during the time between September and December 2011, she allegedly embezzled $21,000 or so. She was arrested last week this allegedly sticky fingering and prosecutors shared the details in court this week:
Lebel accessed the city funds by opening sealed bags containing bank deposits of cash and checks from city departments, according to a statement read in court by prosecutor Phil Finegan. The first discrepancy came after U.S. Cellular Coliseum questioned a bill it had paid but the city showed as unpaid. The Coliseum produced a cancelled check and bank records showed the money had been deposited incorrectly into a police department account, according to the statement. An outside auditing firm hired by the city to review financial records uncovered nine incidents where $21,648 was removed from deposits.
When investigators gave Ms. Lebel the opportunity to explain herself, they got this:
Lebel told authorities she opened sealed bags to correct errors in deposits and was told by city leaders she was allowed “to do whatever crazy accounting she needed to do to get the deposits to balance.”
Fair enough. But most people manage to use 'crazy accounting' without being accused of embezzlement, lady.
Alleged embezzler: ‘Crazy accounting’ to blame for discrepancies [Pantagraph]