Patco Electric employee allegedly embezzles $160,000

Bond was set and a preliminary court date scheduled Thursday for Rhonda Laminack, a former Patco Electric employee, who allegedly stole over $160,000 from the company over a period of three years.

According to the affidavit, on May 3, Duncan Police Department was notified of a book keeping discrepancy by two Patco employees; Terry Patterson and Lynda Walton. Patterson told police that Walton had informed him several days ago that there were some book keeping discrepancies that had alerted Walton to a possible problem. Upon further investigation into the issue, Patterson and Walton discovered that Laminack had allegedly been issuing checks to herself of amounts that were far beyond her salary and twice yearly bonuses. Patterson and Walton were unable to dig back further than three years at that time due to records beyond that point being difficult to access; but they determined that in that three year time span, Laminack had allegedly taken over $160,000 from Patco.

Patterson presented copies of checks to Duncan Police that reportedly had been issued to Laminack without authorization. Duncan Police were also shown spreadsheets that Patterson said include unauthorized transfers from non-payroll accounts, as well as additional checks issued by Laminack to herself.

According to the report, Duncan Police interviewed Laminack on May 4, where she allegedly admitted that she had taken money from Patco without the company’s knowledge. Laminack allegedly claimed the amount she had taken was closer to $140,000; and had been used to fund her gambling problem, help a child without work, and assist with a sick family member. Laminack told police that she had attempted to contact Patterson to make arrangements to return the money. According to the affidavit, during a follow up interview between Duncan Police and Patterson; Patterson told police that Laminack had been fired the previous day, and that upon her firing, Laminack had allegedly told Patterson that she would repay the money if he would not file charges.

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