A former bookkeeper used her position to steal over $800,000 from three southwest Florida companies, including a charity, officials said.
Mary Melissa Chancy, 35, was arrested Tuesday following a two-year investigation by economic crimes investigators, Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said.
Detectives devoted more than 250 hours to the case, which included dissecting complex business financial documents, obtaining subpoenas from financial institutions, interviewing witnesses, and analyzing records to show the movement of the money, the sheriff said in apost on Facebook.
“Embezzlement cases are typically time consuming and challenging to prove. This is detective work at its finest,” he said.
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Investigators said Chancy engaged in an elaborate scheme to embezzle funds from the companies.
In May 2019, Vincent “Cap” Mona told detectives that he suspected Chancy of misappropriating $570,000 from three of his companies: Three Palms Design Build LLC, Clinton Investment Group LLC, and Cap Mona Angel Fund, a charitable organization established by Mona to provide financial assistance to two schools and a church in Haiti.
Detectives determined that Chancy had stolen $800,281 since her hiring in January 2016, Rambosk said.
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According to the sheriff, Chancy recorded deceiving entries in the books and ledgers for the three businesses to intentionally mislead Mona. Rambosk said she also manipulated the bank statements she gave Mona.
Chancy is charged with grand theft and scheme to defraud. She was booked into the Collier County jail and later released after posting $60,000 bond. Jail records did not list a lawyer for Chancy who could comment on her behalf.
