2-Million-Dollar Robbery

Employee embezzles quarter of a million dollars.

By Rachel Morgan, Marketing –

Michael Verzella, age 41, was found guilty of stealing at least $240,000 from his employer and those he serviced through his work. Verzella has not yet been sentenced, the maximum penalty for his crime of wire fraud, is 20 years in prison. He has already “agreed to pay total restitution of $450,062.08, which includes expenses Chapel Haven incurred while investigating his criminal conduct.”

Chapel Haven is a nonprofit business that provides services for disabled individuals. In Verzella’s position as Supervisor of Recreation, Verzella was entrusted with a company credit card to pay for activities for residents and Chapel Haven community members.

Verzella admitted to using the credit card to fund personal expenses, such as sporting event tickets for his family and friends. He also used the Chapel Haven card to buy gift cards for himself. When he submitted his purchase orders for these expenses, he falsely stated that these expenses pertained to activities provided for Chapel Haven residents. His personal use of the company card totaled to be $175,872.

Verzella also told his employees to collect cash payments from the Chapel Hill community for activities that were already covered by their tuition. It was discovered that Verzella stole $68,000 from those payments.

Verzella was arrested for his crimes and then released on bail for $100,000.

The case of Michael Verzella is an example despicable measures employees will take to steal from their employers and places of work. Unfortunately, employee theft is more common than we might like to think. For this reason, EyeDetect® technology, has been developed to help employers screen their employees through lie detection tests, holding them accountable for their actions.

EyeDetect uses minimal equipment and has proven to be 86-90% accurate. Tests are administered and completed within 15-30 minutes and the results of the tests are processed immediately, thus facilitating regular employee screenings.

Many cases of employee theft could be avoided through regular lie detection tests. EyeDetect is committed to providing a way to help employers promote honesty in the workplace on a global scale.

Source
Photo by / Josh Appel