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Indictment alleges woman bilked company of $174,915
BOARDMAN
A Boardman woman has been indicted on a felony theft charge, accused of stealing $174,915 from her employer over 10 years.
Lori Lamb, 50, was an office manager for Morris Drain Service on Simon Road.
In April, one of the business owners filed a report with police that stated he caught Lamb stealing petty cash two months earlier, and shortly after that, Lamb quit abruptly in February.
Police said the owner contacted his attorney, who looked into the thefts and alleges that Lamb was taking money from the business in several ways: padding her weekly paycheck with an additional $200 to $300; writing business checks to herself while writing vendor names on the pay stubs; paying her own credit cards from the business account at about $2,000 a month; and paying her cellphone bill from the business at about $350 a month.
The owner of Morris Drain said the thefts go back 10 years but claimed that Lamb began to steal larger amounts in 2007.
Police said Lamb cashed checks at various banks and had several bank accounts.
Lamb referred a reporter to her attorney, Gerald Ingram, who could not be reached Friday.
Bob Morris, one of the company’s co-owners, said at first he didn’t believe the allegations against Lamb.
“I really didn’t believe it because we had gotten to know her so well. She was like part of the family,” he said. Morris said Lamb was responsible for bookkeeping. He said after she left the company, the Internal Revenue Service contacted the company about money owed.
“The IRS was presenting us with bills, and we thought we’d been paying for everything right along,” he said.
Morris said the company’s attorney has evidence that the sum stolen was much larger than $175,000.
“It would be nice to see some restitution. ...At the same time, I don’t want to hurt their family,” he said. “But if there is money put away somewhere, it would be nice to have some restitution. Should she go to jail? That’s up to the judge and jury.”