Controller
and March 2020 while she worked at Apparel Business Systems in Plymouth Meeting.
Bernhardt set I ba rguen’s bail at $400,000 unsecured and she was released to await her Dec. 22 preliminary hearing on the charges.
The charges against Ibarguen were announced on Wednesday by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Plymouth Township Police Chief John Myrsiades.
Ibarguen was hired by Apparel Business Systems as controller in June 2015 and was fired on March 20, 2020, “after an internal audit was conducted and the theft of funds from ABS was suspected,” Plymouth Township Detective Jeffrey M. McGee Sr. alleged in the criminal complaint.
As controller Ibarguen performed accounts payable, accounts receivable and general ledger duties and also processed payroll for the company located along Hickory Road in Plymouth Meeting, according to court documents.
“Ibarguen was in a position of trust in the company as the bookkeeper and used that trust to gain access to the ABS personal information and business accounts. She used those accounts to finance her lifestyle,” McGee alleged in the arrest affidavit.
The investigation began in March when company officials contacted police after an internal audit uncovered the suspected embezzlement. The ensuing investigation determined that between September 2015 and March 2020, Ibarguen forged checks and made unauthorized payments from company accounts, including payroll accounts, totaling $393,496.87, according to court documents.
Authorities alleged Ibarguen used the stolen funds to make unauthorized payments to her personal credit card and cable bills.
“I reviewed documents provided by ABS and determined Ibarguen re - ceived funds directly from ABS checking accounts and used these funds for her personal benefit,” McGee alleged in the arrest affidavit, explaining Ibarguen used various methods to defraud the company.
Ibarguen,w ho also listed an address in the 900 block of Washington Place, Chesterbrook, allegedly forged the signatures of two company executives while writing 21 checks, totaling $19,000, to herself between September 2015 and December 2016, according to the criminal complaint.
Ibargu en allegedly made 92 payments, totaling $74,778.46, on her personal credit cards using company funds, as well as paid her Comcast cable bill 26 times for a total of $5,065.46, between November 2015 and July 2018, according to the arrest affidavit.
Ibarguen also allegedly transferred funds from the company’s bank accounts to her personal bank account 95 times, many times on a weekly basis, with the individual transfers ranging between $675 and $4,043, for a total of $181,895.89 between March 2018 and March 2020, according to the criminal complaint.
“Throughout Ibarguen’s employment at ABS, Darby Ibarguen would use various methods to increase her bi-weekly salary,” McGee alleged in court papers.
Beginning in 2016, Ibargu en allegedly increased her bi-weekly salary amount on documents submitted to the payroll company and issued additional paychecks to herself when she submitted commission payments for other salespersons. That part of Ibarguen’s alleged theft scheme resulted in a loss of $112,756.61 for the company, detectives alleged.