Tuesday, October 30, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 9
A South Carolina woman is facing fraud charges after authorities say she took more than $215,000 from the furniture store she worked for and went on two European vacations.
Maria Hamma, 46, worked at Furniture from High Point, a furniture store in Anderson, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release dated Oct. 25.
According to the sheriff’s office, the store’s owner noticed inconsistencies with company records and asked detectives to investigate.
The sheriff’s office said she embezzled the money using at least six different methods, including stealing from the company’s cash register, using the company credit card to pay for $30,000 in personal expenses, and writing herself a bonus check for nearly $6,000.
Authorities accused her of using company funds to pay for two 3-week-long trips to Europe.
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not clear Tuesday morning who is representing Hamma.
According to the sheriff’s office, Hamma also forged timecards to make it look like she worked more than she did.
“When she was adding to the timecard, we’re talking 800 hours that were added over the course of two years,” Detective Tyler Brown said in the news release. “Every time I thought we were getting close to the end, something else would pop up.”
Authorities also said she pretended to be the furniture store’s owner and forged contracts, leading to the store losing just over $215,000.
Detectives spent two months looking through documents and bank statements to figure out what happened, according to the sheriff’s office.
Hamma has been charged with breach of trust, forgery and computer crimes. The woman’s charges are considered felonies, the sheriff’s office confirmed to USA TODAY. Computer crimes carry a up to a five-year sentence, while the other two charges carry sentences of up to 10 years.
She was taken into custody but then released on a $15,000 bond.
Source: USA Today
