A U Bookstore employee was charged with embezzling more than $142,000 from the bookstore over a period of two years.
Stacy Williams, an accounting specialist supervisor, admitted that she changed daily receipts and took the cash.
Bookstore management noticed the theft when, in a routine internal audit performed every five years, it became apparent that the daily receipts did not match month-end totals, said Randy Van Dyke, director of internal audits at the U.
When questioned about the difference, Williams refused to answer. She quit and then hired a lawyer, according to Van Dyke.
After hiring her lawyer, Williams met with Deputy District Attorney Greg Brown and Det. Alex Huggard, and admitted to taking the $142,000, according to court documents.
Det. Mike McPharlin, one of the investigating detectives from the U, said, “this is about the oddest case” he has covered, but he said Williams will go through a typical judicial process with an arraignment. Williams is not currently in jail, but she will surrender herself soon, he said.
The courts will most likely order Williams to pay full restitution, and may also assess her heavy fines and possible jail time, according to McPharlin.
Coralie Alder, spokeswoman for the U, said the bookstore took appropriate action in the case, and that “the U is doing everything it can” to collect the money back from Williams.
She also says the missing money has not affected bookstore prices.
The audit, which is done at every money-making organization at the U, is performed every five years, which is why the thefts weren’t noticed throughout the two-year period, Van Dyke said. But he does feel this audit was a “success.”
“We uncovered the problem, and we will probably get some recovery of the funds,” he said.
In order to increase the frequency of audits, Van Dyke said it would take an increased staff, which is not financially feasible at this time. Another option would be to do less-comprehensive audits more often.
“We wouldn’t have caught this if we hadn’t done as in-depth an audit, so I think the system is working for the budget we have,” he said.
Embezzlement cases at the U are “pretty infrequent,” according to McPharlin. In the 21 years he has served as a member of the University Police Department, he has seen seven or eight cases, ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand, he said.