Illinois Woman Indicted In $150 Embezzlement Conspiracy Against Walgreens

From the Deerfield Review on 1/8/2015:

Three women were indicted by a Lake County grand jury Wednesday, Jan. 7, for embezzling approximately $150,000 from Walgreens, authorities said.

Charisma Farrow-Smith, 33, of Hoffman Estates, was charged with two counts of theft, which is a Class 1 felony, and two counts of forgery, a Class 3 felony. Deerfield Police Sgt. Greg Hury said she created false invoices while working at the Walgreens corporate campus in Deerfield.

“She learned their invoice system, created three false companies and created invoices,” Hury said. “She labeled her compatriots as vendors on the invoice and they would cash the checks.”

Those payments totaled the approximately $150,000.

The checks went to Silverine Smith, 31, of Chicago, and Luciana Cardona, 38, of Carpentersville, both of whom cashed the checks, Hury said. They were charged with three counts of theft each, a Class 2 felony. Smith and Cardona, who could serve between nine and 21 years in prison if convicted on all counts, remain at large, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office.

Farrow-Smith began working at Walgreens in early 2012 and left in August 2013, according to Hury. He said her activity came to the attention of the asset protection manager when proper tax forms could not be found and it could not be determined who received the money. The company contacted the Deerfield police and an investigation was conducted.

Farrow-Smith, who is free on a $50,000 bond, will be arraigned before Lake County Criminal Court Judge James Booras Jan. 22 in Lake County Criminal Court in Waukegan.

If convicted on all counts, Farrow-Smith could face between 12 and 40 years in jail, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Read the whole story here.