TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A former employee has been arrested, accused of embezzling more than $45,000 from a Tallahassee animal hospital.
Lesley Chamblin, a former office manager at South Monroe Animal Hospital, has been charged with grand theft and criminal use of personal identification.
According to complaint documents, the owner called Tallahassee Police to investigate on March 10. The owner told investigators that she believed 36-year-old Chamblin had been stealing money from the hospital.
The owner explained that she became concerned two days earlier when Chamblin didn't show up for work and didn't call ahead to let someone know she wouldn't be in. The day after, documents say the owner spoke with Chamblin's fiance, who said Chamblin had been arrested for a previous "fraud/theft charge" and was awaiting extradition to Thomas County, Georgia.
According to court documents, Chamblin had been employed at SMAH since November 2016, but was promoted to officer manager in February 2017.
However, when the concerned owner began looking into the hospital's finances, she told investigators she discovered the Chamblin had been stealing cash deposits and had given herself an unapproved raise.
Between February 2017 and March 2018, documents state the total amount of missing deposit cash was $44,253.04.
In additional to bank statements indicating the missing deposit cash, Chamblin was also found to be in possession of 23 customer checks totaling $4,513.57. Among Chamblin's belongings, investigators also found nearly $600 in cash and several documents containing personal identification information.
The owner of the animal hospital says that the personal identification information that was found did not belong to any clientele.
Documents say that when investigators interviewed Chamblin at the Thomas County Sheriff's Office in May, she confessed that she stole the cash deposits from the Tallahassee animal hospital because she had a drug problem and needed it to buy prescription pills. She stated that she had started taking hydrocodone four months after she started working at SMAH.
Chamblin estimated that she had stolen about $5,000 over the course of her employment, despite evidence that she had stolen tens of thousands of dollars.
When asked if she'd be willing to repay the money she took, documents say Chamblin replied, "Absolutely... without a doubt." However, she was insistent that she had only taken around $5,000.
Further investigation revealed Chamblin was paid unauthorized payroll totaling $827.65. Documents say the grand total of financial loss suffered by the animal hospital was $46,080.69.
Based on the information, she was charged and arrested over the weekend.
Court documents show that Chamblin has been convicted multiple times on theft, fraud, and violation of probation charges.
The owner of the animal hospital reached out to WTXL with the following statement:
"The personal identification information that was found in Chamblin's possession was all Dr. MacMillan's personal information that had been stolen. No clients' personal information was found in her possession. At the time of hire, a background check was done on Lesley Chamblin, which came up clear. Her previous conviction in Thomas County, Ga. was under Lesley Christmas, which is her married name which was never legally changed. We do not carry hydrocodone at this practice, which is a drug rarely used in veterinary medicine."
