Ex-bookkeeper admits to theft

Souderton woman stole $42,000 from her former employer

NORRISTOWN — A former bookkeeper at a Telford business has admitted that she stole more than $42,000 by stealing company checks and then forging them to pay her personal expenses.

Kelly Lynn Chewning, 48, formerly of the 200 block of East Summit Street, Souderton, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to felony charges of theft by deception in connection with incidents that occurred between May 2012 and April 2013 while she was the bookkeeper for Banes Roofing and Banes Home Renovations, which is located along South Third Street in Telford. Judge Carolyn T. Carluccio deferred sentencing so court offificials can complete a background investigative report about Chewning, whose most recent address was in Columbia Cross Roads in Bradford County.

Chewning, who remains free on bail

pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of seven to 14 years in prison on the charges.

The judge indicated that a restitution hearing, to determine the exact amount of money Chewning owes the business, will be scheduled prior to the sentencing hearing.

An investigation began in April 2013 when the business owner told police that the theft was discovered when his wife found payroll checks were missing, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Telford Police Officer Daniel S. Fox. When company officials went to the bank in search of the checks they discovered Chewning had cashed the missing checks, according to the criminal complaint.

The investigation deter- mined the checks had been stolen from the office safe, police said.

Investigators obtained bank surveillance video that showed Chewning cashing forged checks, 69 from Banes Roofing, totaling $34,942, and 15 from Banes Home Renovations, totaling $7,794, according to the criminal complaint.

When police interviewed Chewning she allegedly told authorities she had incurred $10,000 in medical bills stemming from a heart attack she had suffered.

“She said she was a single mother and was not able to cover her expenses so she stole the checks,” Fox wrote in the arrest affidavit. “Chewning said that she got the idea to take the checks the moment she discovered the combination to the safe.”