LCPD: NMSU work-study student embezzled thousands from non-profit
A grand jury has returned a 117-count indictment against a woman accused of defrauding a local conservation organization of more than $29,000, the Las Cruces Police Department said Monday.
An investigation into forged checks led to charges against Klorice Whitney Lewis, 35, of the 2900 block of Oñate Road. Police said Lewis was employed at the Southwest Environmental Center (SWEC) on a work-study program through New Mexico State University.
Police charged Lewis with 60 third-degree felony counts of forgery, 55 counts of fourth-degree felony tampering with evidence, a fourth-degree felony count of non-residential burglary and a misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property.
Lewis was employed at SWEC from August 2012 until February 2017. In early February 2017, a board member serving as SWEC’s accountant discovered irregularities within the non-profit’s QuickBooks accounting system. The accountant spoke with Lewis about the discrepancies on February 2, 2017. The following day, Lewis called in sick and remained on sick leave for several days, police said.
On the weekend of February 4-5, 2017, someone entered the SWEC offices and deleted several QuickBooks files. The person also damaged an external storage hard drive on a computer, police said.
The culprit also removed several paper files from the SWEC offices that same weekend along with checks to SWEC from the IRS totaling more than $5,000, police said. Although the USB port of the hard drive was damaged, investigators were able to recover data from the device that helped the investigation.
Shortly after being confronted by SWEC’s accountant about the discrepancies in February 2017, Lewis allegedly sent a personal check to SWEC in the amount of $15,000 without any explanation or admittance of guilt, police said.
An investigation by the LCPD allegedly revealed, that in between December 2013 and January 2017, Lewis forged and cashed 60 checks from SWEC for her personal use. Police said the check amounts ranged from $150 to $750 and totaled $29,642.77.
Police said Lewis used her boss’ electronic signature to sign the checks, then either cashed or direct-deposited the checks into her own account.
The case was presented to a grand jury on September 13, 2018 and the 117-count indictment was handed down on the same day. A District Court judge has issued a criminal summons to Lewis demanding that she appear in court on October 9, 2018.
