Woman gave herself a pay raise, stealing $200K in payroll theft from Ormond Beach company, deputies say
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - A woman who is accused of raising her pay without her employer's knowledge, stealing more than $200,000 in payroll theft, was arrested on a felony grand theft charge Friday, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
An investigation began in April after the owner of Atlas Towing Salvage & Marine Services in Ormond Beach noticed discrepancies with his payroll, a charging affidavit stated.
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Deputies said the owner's accountant reviewed the payroll and found that the office manager, identified as Jamie Mann, 35, of Daytona Beach, had allegedly altered payroll multiple times and had given herself a $5 hourly raise on three separate occasions. No one else in the company had access to payroll except for her, the charging affidavit stated.
VCSO said her pay increases went unnoticed for nearly three years, with Mann overpaying herself more than $165,000 between Sept. 2019 and April 2022.
The owner admitted to not reviewing any payroll summaries over the years but said when he did receive a summary in April, he noticed Mann's pay rate was listed as $30 per hour. Deputies said Mann had been employed with the company since August 2019 and was hired with a pay rate of $15 per hour.
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"Upon further investigation, it was discovered Mann was providing different payroll records to the owner to obscure the true pay she was actually receiving. In addition to her self-approved pay raises, Mann regularly paid herself extra compensation for "on-call" time, and time-and-a-half for overtime. While her estimated annual salary was supposed to be $41,022, in 2021, Mann grossed $122,844 in salary for a reported 4,127.2 hours of work," the sheriff's office stated in a news release.
Authorities said since the start of the reported thefts, Mann allegedly stole more than $201,000 in excess pay plus payroll tax costs.
Mann reportedly used much of the money on Amazon purchases, amusement park tickets, home improvement and other recreational expenses, investigators said after reviewing her bank records.
She was arrested and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, but was released Saturday after posting $50,000 bail.