Accused Embezzler Told Employer She Had 'Addiction'
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - A woman accused of embezzling more than $750,000 from her employer told the bosses she had an "addiction." She apparently meant gambling.
Michelle Lynn Shelton, 40, was arrested last month after another accountant at Highline Financial in Boulder noticed discrepancies. She's due in court on Thursday. Investigators found several withdrawals at casinos in Colorado and Las Vegas.
The alleged thefts went on for years, according to the arrest affidavit.
"This woman was the last check in the check and balances of the system, so no one was checking her work and it got unnoticed until found by a coworker," Sgt. Rob Bustrum with the Boulder Police Department said.
The coworker found the money funneling out of the company after Shelton called in sick. According to the affidavit, those funds went to several accounts in Shelton's name. An audit showed a total of $561,302.34 went into two accounts in 2009 and 2010. It also showed that $227,979.40 of unauthorized charges were going from Highline's Chase account directly to Shelton.
(Watch Stan Bush's report in the video below.)
Shelton allegedly made huge deposits several times a month. Sometimes they were as high as $9,000.
"This is a pretty good-sized amount. As far as someone stealing from a company, it's not that uncommon," Bustrum said. "We get quite a few cases a year that we investigate. Although this is one of the larger ones we've had in a while."
Police said Shelton spent large sums of money on lavish weekends in Las Vegas and Black Hawk. They said she pulled money out by the thousands and had expensive dinners.
No that Shelton is in jail, she can't even post her $50,000 bail.
"We don't know if it's all been spent or how much is left right now, we don't know that answer," Bustrum said.
Shelton told her employer she had an extreme addiction, but did not specify what kind.
Police believe she started stealing money from the company just two months after she was hired.
