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Boardman business loses $500,000 in theft scheme by employee
BOARDMAN
A township business is out more than $500,000 after an employee apparently took money from the company in a complicated scheme dating back more than a year.
The owner of Simon Roofing, 70 Karago Ave., reported to police Monday that an employee filed 72 fictitious invoices for services from June 1, 2013, through Sept. 1, 2014, through a company he set up to process the claims.
James Simon told police the company hired the suspect in June 2012. The suspect’s job was to update all the company’s computer systems, and he could hire subcontractors to provide computer programming and network services, according to the police report.
Questions arose about payments made to a company for computer services after a routine internal financial analysis, the owner said.
The company hired for computer services is registered with the Ohio Secretary of State under the name of the suspect’s son.
The company’s filing date is listed as June 18, 2013, in the Ohio Secretary of State’s business filings.
Managers at Simon Roofing began to investigate the computer services company after they asked the suspect for specific information about specific services provided and he failed to respond in a timely manner, the owner told police. That is when Simon employees discovered the company was registered to someone with the suspect’s last name.
The suspect reportedly admitted he created the computer services company and filed the company name under his son’s name, and also admitted the services billed to Simon by it were fraudulent.
A subsequent audit determined that Simon lost $531,858 from the fraudulent transactions. The fictitious company reportedly received 69 checks from Simon for the 72 invoices it billed.
The suspect has not yet been charged because the investigation is ongoing, Boardman Police Chief Jack Nichols said.
He said he expects investigators to take the case to the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office next week to determine any charges. The case would then go before a grand jury, which would decide whether to indict the suspect.
Simon Roofing representatives were not available for additional comment Wednesday.