Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Texas Woman Accused Of Embezzlement While Office Manager Of Newspaper

Peggy Lanell Motley, 62, the former office manager for the Ennis Daily News of Ennis, Texas, turned herself into authorities yesterday after learning there was a warrant for her arrest for allegedly embezzling more than $100,000 from the newspaper. Motley is being charged with a second degree felony of theft between $100,000 and $200,000. She faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, plus restitution if convicted. The apparent embezzlement was uncovered by an in-house accountant who noticed shortfalls in the company's accounts. The ensuing audit showed evidence of shortfalls allegedly caused by Motley over a period of several several years totalling more than $100,000.

Read the full arrest report published exclusively by the Ellis County Observer here.

Read the story here, here and here.

As these pages have outlined before, small businesses are extremely susceptible to this sort of white collar crime. Few, if any, checks and balances probably existed at the newspaper, I am willing to wager.

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