People v. Chambers CA4/3

FACTS

Appellant worked for the Bogart Construction Company from 1994 to 2004. During that time, she held a number of different positions with the company, including bookkeeper and office manager. She was heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the company and had ready access to its digital financial records. She also had access to the signature stamp of company president Brad Bogart. In June 2004, the company controller Kim Krick noticed there was a check missing from the company‟s check registry. Krick contacted the bank and learned the check was written to appellant in the amount of $2,450 and cashed by her on June 7, 2004. In the wake of this discovery, Krick audited the company‟s financial records and discovered numerous discrepancies in the company‟s bank accounts. She also discovered that several canceled checks were missing from the filing cabinet where such checks were kept when they came back from the bank. Krick obtained copies of the missing checks from the bank and noticed they were made out to appellant and either cashed by her or deposited into her personal bank account. However, the company‟s check ledger did not list appellant as the payee of the missing…