ARREST MADE IN 'REFUND' THEFTS.Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer BURBANK - A former pharmacist at a Toluca Toluca (tōl  `kä), city (1990 pop. 327,865), capital of Mexico state, central Mexico. Located on the central plateau, Toluca (alt. c.8,760 ft/2,670 m) has a year-round cool climate. Lake health center for film and television workers has been arrested on suspicion of making fake refunds to take $374,000 from the cash register over five years, police said. Erin Rodick, 38, of La Caada Flintridge was released on $175,000 bail, police said. The former chief pharmacist at the Motion Picture & Television Fund's Toluca Lake Health Center is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 13 in Burbank Superior Court. ``There was a weak link in their accounting system in place at the time that allowed this to slip through unnoticed for a long period of time,'' said a Burbank Police Department detective, Matthew Ferguson. The Toluca Lake clinic is one of five health centers operated by the fund for current and retired film and television workers. The five centers receive 130,000 outpatient visits a year. Police do not believe any patients were affected by the alleged embezzlement embezzlement n. the crime of stealing the funds or property of an employer, company, or government or misappropriating money or assets held in trust. (See: embezzler, theft). ``A discrepancy in the pharmacy cash accounting Cash Accounting An accounting method where receipts are recorded during the period they are received, and the expenses in the period in which they are actually paid.Notes: Basically, when the cash is received for a sale, it is recorded in the accounting books as a sale. This is in contrast with accrual accounting, where revenue and expenses are recorded when they are incurred. See also: Accrual Accounting, Cash Budget was discovered, theft was suspected, and an investigation was made, and the pharmacist in charge, Erin Rodick, was terminated on Oct. 6,'' said MPTF MPTF - Motion Picture & Television FundMPTF - Multi-Path Track Fusion spokeswoman Christine Thomas, adding that fund officials contacted Burbank police about their suspicions. Police arrested Rodick on Nov. 24 at another Burbank pharmacy, where she had found work after losing her job with the fund, and booked her on suspicion of grand theft by means of embezzlement. ``The allegations are that she made fraudulent refunds and then kept the money from the cash register,'' Ferguson said, adding that the average ``refund'' was for about $400. ``There wasn't as tight an inventory control as there now might be,'' he said. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has not filed charges against Rodick, but Ferguson said that is expected to happen before the end of the year. Rodick faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion