Bookkeeper charged in $617K theft from firm
NORRISTOWN >> In what prosecutors called a case of “misplaced trust,” a Green Lane woman was arrested for allegedly stealing more than $600,000 from a Hatfield company where she worked as a bookkeeper.
“She had been in a position at the company for over 20 years and she was responsible for the books of the company,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said on Tuesday as he announced the arrest of Carol Ann Snyder for allegedly embezzling $617,147 from her employer, Hardy Machine LLC, between 2012 and 2019.
“Unfortunately, this is another example of misplaced trust and one that hurts. The company gave her the authority to do check writing and balance
the books and instead of doing that, she was taking money and taking significant amounts of money,” Steele added.
Snyder, 58, of the 600 block of Macoby Street, was arraigned before District Court Judge Edward Levine of Lansdale on charges of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, forgery, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking and access device fraud in connection with the alleged incidents.
Levine set bail at $200,000 cash. Snyder was unable to post the bail and was remanded to the county jail to await her Nov. 5 preliminary hearing.
Prosecutors alleged Snyder used the stolen money to make purchases at retail stores, grocery stores, online businesses and an auto repair shop. Authorities alleged that other purchases made to vendors including a country club, disc jockey and tuxedo
Carol Ann Snyder
and bridal stores “coincided with Carol Ann Snyder’s two daughter’s weddings,” according to the criminal complaint.
“We’ve been able to track that she spent it on personal items. It seems that she spent some of the proceeds of her thefts on her daughters’ weddings and it was a significant amount over time and significant for this company who unfortunately, trusted her,” Steele alleged.
“Actions like the defendants are all too prevalent in our county and her arrest is a reminder of the need for all sizes of companies to have checks and balances in place,” Steele added.
An investigation of Snyder began in September when the owner of Hardy Machine reported the alleged thefts to Hatfield detectives. Company officials said they were alerted to the alleged thefts when the issuer of a company credit card notified the company that its payment was overdue, a credit card that company owners believed had been inactive for several years, according to the arrest affidavit.
Further investigation regarding the credit card account and other business records uncovered additional unauthorized and non-business related purchases by Snyder, who was the office administrator, prosecutors alleged. Snyder was solely responsible for payroll, accounts receivable, the balancing of books and the management of the company’s finances, detectives alleged.
The investigation uncovered a total of 1,758 unauthorized purchases made by Snyder between 2012 and Aug. 9, 2019, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Hatfield Detective Daniel J. Tinneny. In addition to making unauthorized credit card purchases, Snyder allegedly wrote unauthorized checks to herself and other entities, forging the business owner’s signature. Snyder fraudulently documented the checks in business records as having been written to various companies that did business with Hardy Machine, authorities alleged.
After discovering the alleged embezzlement, company owners confronted Snyder. During a meeting, Snyder allegedly stated, “she shouldn’t have done it,” according to the criminal complaint.
“Finally, Carol Snyder reportedly offered to (company owners) her 401K saying, ‘you can have my whole 401(k), I don’t want to go to jail,’” Tinneny alleged in the arrest affidavit.
When confronted by detectives about the alleged thefts Snyder stated, “I used the credit card and I wrote some checks” and that she used the credit cards “for food for my kids and I don’t know when it started,” according to arrest documents.
Snyder told detectives no one assisted her in the alleged embezzlement.
If convicted of the charges at trial, Snyder potentially faces decades in prison.