CHESTER COUNTY — A 37-year-old Lancaster County woman is facing theft and fraud charges after Chester County investigators say she embezzled more than $330,000 in funds from a Sadsbury Township business where she was employed as an account manager.
Cynthia Marie Taylor, of Gap, Lancaster County, stole the funds from Ballymore Company, using a company credit card for personal expenses and then altering internal records to cover up the crimes, according to Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, who announced her arrest Wednesday in a press release.
The alleged thefts occurred over a five-year period, from January 2013 through November 2017, Hogan’s office said.
Taylor worked at the company for seven years, eventually rising to the position of account manager, where she reported directly to the company president and was responsible for managing employee expense accounts with American Express, investigators say.
Ballymore had a business account through American Express, and several employees — including Taylor — were issued company credit cards, according to investigators.
When the monthly statements came in, Taylor was responsible for checking employee expenditures and coding them into the company’s internal records, investigators say.
Over a four-year period from 2013 through 2017, investigators say, Taylor used the company’s credit card for personal expenses. She then covered her fraud by changing the records to make it appear that she had incurred legitimate business expenses, according to investigators.
Hogan’s press release shared one example, which occurred in December 2015. Taylor allegedly used the company card to make a purchase of $163.21 at a video game store, changed the records to reflect it as a business purchase from Amazon Market, and coded it as a business expense.
Taylor is accused of employing similar strategies to make 2,443 purchases from January 2013 through November 2017, when her employment with the company was terminated after the alleged fraud was discovered.
Ballymore reported the fraud to Sadsbury Township Police, which investigated the matter with Chester County Detectives.
The investigation revealed Taylor had made $331,563 worth of fraudulent purchases, buying gifts, groceries, purses, and other personal items, Hogan’s office says.
According to the criminal complaint affidavit:
- In 2013, Taylor allegedly made 178 unauthorized purchases totaling $15,682.
- In 2014, she is accused of making 333 unauthorized purchases worth $33,880.
- In 2015, Taylor allegedly made 494 unauthorized purchases worth $69,999.
- In 2016, she allegedly made 690 unauthorized purchases worth $97,055.
- In 2017, she allegedly made 748 unauthorized purchases worth $114,947.
