Payroll clerk sent employees’ direct deposits to his own bank account, Florida cops say

A payroll specialist changed the direct deposit information of multiple employees to reflect his own bank account number, Florida police say.

The specialist, who worked for a payroll company, went into five employees’ payroll accounts between September 2018 and November 2018 and redirected their direct deposit paychecks to his own bank account, according to an arrest affidavit filed Nov. 4 from the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Officers arrested him on Nov. 3.

In total, he stole $6,243, the affidavit says. He used the “fraudulent funds” on various expenses, including groceries, liquor, healthcare, loan payments and rent, according to police.

The affidavit said the employees were “negatively impacted” by “not only receiving their paycheck on time but also overpaid their 2018 federal, Social Security and Medicare taxes because their actual earning was overstated.”

In July 2022, while employed as a remote payroll specialist for a healthcare company, he changed the information in one employee’s payroll account to redirect a $3,908 paycheck to his own bank account, the affidavit says. An audit report from the company later showed that the man had changed the employee’s direct deposit account information.

The man, who is 40, faces a charge of scheme to defraud less than $20,000, the affidavit says.

St. Petersburg is 23 miles southeast of Tampa.

This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Payroll clerk sent employees’ direct deposits to his own bank account, Florida cops say."