Delco Woman Charged With Dipping into Boss' Account

A Clifton Heights woman is facing two dozen felony theft counts in Delaware County. She’s charged with skimming almost a quarter-million dollars from her employer over a four-year period.

Marianne Rossman (above), 55, had worked as a bookkeeper for a pair of Ridley Park heart doctors since 1991. Last October, she confided in a co-worker that she was taking money.

"Rossman had used funds belonging to Cardiovascular Group to pay her personal American Express account for some time."

Green says Rossman got a doctor to sign an Amex check each month, and then she’d tack on her own account number -- making sure the office account was automatically paid, apparently without their knowledge.

She’s also accused of taking another almost $9,000 in petty cash over the same time period.

In two of the cases the book-keeper was also the office manager. These were both small businesses - less than 8 employees each. Highly specialized with only the book-keeper/office manager as support staff. The owner and 2-3 employees were the core group who actually did the business of the company. This allowed the bk/OM a lot of freedom to do her deed. The owner was glad he didn't have to concern himself with the finances and he could concentrate on working with his core group to make money.

The other two were basically the same concept with slightly larger companies with more employees. The accounting was farmed out to a local office who was ripping just about all their clients off to some extent.

This is a major problem for small business owners. They want to focus on making their business a success. Some how they get connected with a crooked book-keeper and the scam is on.
Another point - the vast majority of this, when uncovered, goes unreported. Many times its a relative or long-time acquaintance. Or the owner is so embarrassed by "letting this happen" they just want to get on with business. So the crook moves to another town and does what they know makes them money. The cycle repeats.
A convincing story and fast talk and the next small business gets hooked into the web. Most business owners hate doing the books. They just want to make their dream happen.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.