McDonald’s manager stuffed cash in shirts, stealing nearly $50K in 7 months, cops say
The first time an assistant McDonald’s manager is accused of stealing from the Pennsylvania restaurant, police said she took $20.
Over the next several months, authorities said she began stuffing as much as $1,460 into her shirts when she made her daily cash deposits at the Dunmore McDonald’s restaurant.
The manager is accused of stealing $48,625 from September 2022 through March 2023, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by McClatchy News.
The Dunmore Borough Police Department began an investigation into the thefts on March 29 after the store manager and restaurant owner reported an employee may be stealing from the fast food business.
An accountant had noticed “discrepancies with the deposits,” police said. At the time, they were only aware of about $5,000 in losses, according to the police criminal complaint.
‘I didn’t take the money’
While an officer was talking with restaurant management, an employee told the manager that the assistant manager had just found $2,200 on top of a safe, according to court records.
The assistant manager provided a written statement that said, “I found 2000 and something on top of the safe in the office. It was brought to my attention that there was money missing off my deposit. I didn’t take the money but I’m willing to replace the money because it was done on my shifts. I don’t believe I gave anyone my code. But I can’t be (too) sure.”
She was then suspended as part of an investigation, police said.
Authorities said they obtained multiple clips of surveillance footage that show the assistant manager stuffing cash into her shirts before depositing the rest of the money into the safe.
The McDonald’s restaurant also provided police with daily deposit transaction records, records show.
“While the other employees had the exact amount of paper currency anticipated to be deposited, (the assistant manager) is consistently short,” police said.
The assistant manager met police on April 3 for an interview, according to the affidavit.
‘Very large shortages’
“It was clear that (she) thought this investigation was about the $1200 shortage from her most recent deposit of March 27th,” police said. “I explained to (her) that I had been taking a very close look at the sales and her deposits over the last several months and there are some very large shortages and asked if she could explain them.”
She said she couldn’t explain the shortages, police said, then the detective told her the department had obtained videos that show her stuffing cash into her clothes.
The assistant manager began crying and said the $2,200 she claimed to have found on top of the safe was actually money she previously stole and put in her car, police said. She said she pretended to “find it” when she got nervous about a possible police investigation.
She said she didn’t know how much money she stole each day as “she would just take a handful” to count once she got home, police said.
‘Expressed deep remorse’
“She stated she had ‘fallen on hard times’ around October, did it a few times and no one ever noticed,” authorities continued. “She stated she promised herself she was going to stop after the new year, but then her mother had also fallen on hard times and she was trying to help her financially.”
The assistant manager told authorities she missed a lot of work when sick, affecting her finances, and she “expressed deep remorse for what she had done and promised to pay it all back,” police said.
She also said she does not have any of the stolen money left, according to the report.
“She is embarrassed that she would do something like this and feels very guilty,” police said.
The woman owes $46,425, authorities said. She’s charged with theft and receiving stolen property.
Dunmore is about 130 miles north of downtown Philadelphia.
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