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Woman accused of grand theft, embezzlement of a Tallahassee dry cleaners

Posted at 5:38 PM, Aug 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-06 17:38:01-04

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A former employee was arrested after deputies say she stole over $7,300 from a Tallahassee dry cleaning company.

According to court documents, Leon County deputies were contacted by a victim in regards to a grand theft committed by a former employee. The victim told deputies that when she was conducting a financial overview of Prestige Cleaners business accounts, she noticed that very few deposits had been made to the account.

Deputies say employee Erin Parrish, 49, had been recently promoted and added to the business account back in October 2018. The victim told deputies that of the few deposits in the company's account, there were only credit card and check deposits.

After the victim reviewed the bank statements, she told investigators she suspected that Parrish was keeping the cash payments and only depositing check payments to the account. After reviewing the company's financial reports further, the victim confirmed her suspicions.

The victim also determined that Parrish had went back into the records and changed the spreadsheet so it appeared as though the company didn't have cash deposits for that the day. Documents say the victim told deputies that she believed Parrish stole the daily reports to cover her tracks.

When the victim questioned Parrish about the unusual account activity, the victim said Parrish blamed it on "computer glitches." The victim told investigators that no one else could've stolen the money because Parrish was the only employee who had access to the records aside from the owners.

During the investigation, deputies discovered that Parrish had also stole money through payroll fraud. Documents say Parrish wrote herself multiple paychecks for more than $630 after she had already received her paycheck.

While investigating, detectives reviewed spreadsheets that showed losses from missing cash deposits at all of the company's locations, dating back from October 2018 through January 2019. Documents say Parrish was also caught making several unauthorized purchases on the company's credit card at places like Walmart and Publix.

In addition to the payroll fraud and cash payment thefts, Parrish went to the company's bank and withdrew $320 from the business account.

Court documents say the total amount of money Parish stole throughout all the incidents was $7351.56.

In March, Parrish received her last check and stated she was leaving the company to go out of the state and take care of her sick mother. Detectives later discovered that Parrish was arrested and convicted on felony and identity theft in Ohio.

After months of investigating, deputies finally located and arrested Parrish on Monday.

She was transported to the Leon County Detention Facility on grand theft, fraud and embezzlement charges. Parish has since been released on a $10,000 bond.