Hearing set for embezzlement case
Hearing set for embezzlement case
By: Carol Holmes
Description: Former Kmart business officer takes more than $50,000
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 620 times
1 response 0 comments Another Tehachapi resident will be going in front of a judge for embezzlement at Kmart.
Former Kmart employee and Tehachapi resident Terry Miller has been charged with embezzling $50,000 from the store.
A warrant was issued for Miller on April 12 and she appeared on April 20 for arraignment.
According to Matt Palafox, investigator for the local Kmart district, Miller worked in the cash office and disbursed payment to vendors.
He said Miller, who had worked at the store for several years, had embezzled the money throughout the year of 2005 by keeping cash or writing money orders to herself.
“Right before her confession, the opening manager found $2,000 of cash in an envelope and wondered what was happening,” Palafox said.
He said Miller would send fraudulent invoices to the cooperate office and then when she received the payment, she kept the money. He said Miller was careful to only commit the fraudulence on smaller vendors.
He said the vendors were not complaining because they were paid from the cooperate office.
Because she had sent fraudulent invoices across the country, Palafox contacted the Secret Service to investigate Miller for wire fraud. However, the Secret Service advised Palafox to refer the case to local law enforcement.
During the investigation, Palafox found that Miller had cashed several money orders at the place where she personally banks.
Palafox said another Kmart investigator from the Los Angeles area was called in to assist him with the investigation, which took three weeks.
When she was interviewed in December of 2005 regarding the investigation findings, Miller confessed to the crime.
Palafox said the store has experienced a high amount of loss over the past few years and Miller was a contributing factor.
A pre-preliminary hearing on the case is scheduled for June 6 and a preliminary hearing is set for June 9.
TMRA
Miller allegedly also embezzled funds from the Tehachapi Mountain Rodeo Association in 2002. In that incident, she was allegedly forging checks and taking money valued at more than $1,000.
Miller is no relation to Doug and Jenny Miller who have been actively involved with the TMRA for many years.
Doug said the association has moved forward with the positive programs the TMRA has sponsored for more than 40 years.
According to Senior Deputy Lee Walters, the Tehachapi substation has referred the alleged embezzlement of the TMRA to the Kern County District Attorney’s office.
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