Employee charged with stealing $40K from Salt Lake City company

A former office manager for a surgical technology manufacturer in Salt Lake City was charged Wednesday with embezzling more than $40,000 from the company by writing checks to herself.

The 42-year-old is charged with theft, a second-degree felony. She will be booked and immediately released from jail on her own recognizance, according to documents filed Wednesday in 3rd District Court.

Charging documents state the woman had either cashed or deposited about 85 checks from her employer, a company called Vital Access, totaling $43,200.18. The alleged embezzlements occurred between February 2009, when she started working for the company, and April 2012. She would allegedly falsify expense reports to make it look as though the stolen checks were made out to legitimate vendors with which the company does business, according to court documents.

Another employee discovered the alleged thefts in April after finding a large number of the company's checks recorded in bank statements that did not match up with the company's accounting statements. The checks were written to the defendant, court documents state.

The company's CEO allegedly told police that the woman had basic accounting responsibilities over payroll but was not authorized to sign checks or move money.