Woman charged again with embezzling from a Calgary employer
Calgary police say her previous arrest led directly to the latest one
Nearly two years after being charged with ripping off an employer, a woman stands accused of embezzling nearly $600,000 from another Calgary workplace.
And Calgary police say her previous arrest led directly to the latest one.
Between 2016 and 2023, the accused was employed as an office manager by an orthotics and prosthetics company and was the sole administrator of the firm’s third-party payroll system, says CPS.
But after noticing a March 1, 2023 police press release about earlier fraud charges laid against Monika Manhas, the employer alerted police to suspicions she was embezzling from the prosthetics company.
“In addition to the Calgary Police Service Economic Crimes Unit launching a criminal investigation, a third-party accounting firm conducted a forensic audit of the business’ finances from 2019 to 2023, where it was determined the employee had taken $576,963 without authorization,” CPS said in a Thursday press release.
“The criminal activity is believed to have begun in 2019, when a member of the owner’s family had fallen ill, and the employee had increased access to the company’s finances.”
It’s alleged Manhas, 46, made e-transfers and unauthorized payments to herself disguised as reimbursements, bonuses and advancements and employed a company credit card to make 290 unauthorized transactions.
Police say she also used company cheques to make personal purchases.
Manhas of Gold River, B.C. has been charged with theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000 and her next court appearance is scheduled for March 3.
Woman allegedly defrauded another business of $537,000
In early 2023, police say she posed as an accountant at a Calgary oil and gas company where she was employed on a temporary contract between 2013 and 2015.
“During this time, the woman allegedly set herself up as a full-time, salary-based employee on the company’s payroll system and used company funds to fraudulently pay herself $254,856,” CPS said in a March 1, 2023 press release.
“It is believed the woman also used the company credit card to make extravagant and expensive purchases, totaling $29,483. The credit card was intended for small items for day-to-day office use.”
Police also allege she wrote company cheques to pay herself $65,280 and also used embezzled funds to pay down $187,522 on her own credit card.
In total, police said at the time said they believed Manhas had defrauded the company a total of $537,141.
“The fraudulent activity went unnoticed for an extended period of time, until the woman responded to a suspicious work email, sending a large sum of money to a supposed financial institution in China without first checking with company management,” said CPS.
The company then performed its own investigation into the woman’s dealings and notified police of their suspicions in January 2016.
Due to the investigation’s complexity and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, charges of fraud and theft over $5,000 weren’t laid until February 2023, said police.
They’re asking anyone with information on the latest case and any other similar ones to contact them at 403-266-1234 or to provide tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, on the app at P3 Tips or at?www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
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