Bradenton, Florida – A Manatee County woman is accused of operating a cash register and stealing cash from a small business where she worked in Bradenton, records show.
Felicia Stivers, 51, of Arcadia, was arrested and charged with one count of scheme to defraud over $50,000, a felony, after documented evidence of her embezzling funds in multiple transactions over a two-week period at a Bradenton chop shop.
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According to Stivers’ affidavit, an employee of the Chop Shop, a grocery store and butcher shop, went to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in March to report suspicious circumstances involving Stivers.
An employee initially told MCSO that Stivers was withdrawing cash from the register and stealing money from the drawers, potentially causing the store to lose between $150,000 and $300,000, she said.
Stivers had worked as a cashier at the store for just under three years and had earned a great deal of trust from her employer during her employment, which meant she was responsible for tasks such as calculating payroll, managing bank runs and returning cash.
The employer explained to MCSO that at the end of the business day, the cashier takes a stack of the day’s cash payment receipts, counts them and reconciles them with the money at the end of the day.
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But Stivers would look through the receipts, hand-select certain receipts, remove them from the box, take them to another register and reverse the cash transactions to make it appear as if the transactions never happened – then take the money to himself and pocket it, his employer said.
The employer was able to provide video surveillance from February 28 to March 14, which showed transactions over a nine-day period during which Stivers embezzled money from the company.
Records show that the total amount stolen during the nine-day surveillance period was approximately $6,028. Stivers was eventually fired for theft.
Detectives interviewed Stivers, who said he was shocked by the amount of money his employer accused him of stealing, but admitted to stealing some of the money.
Stivers’ affidavit listed her charges as a scheme to defraud less than $20,000, but later upgraded them to a scheme to defraud more than $50,000.
She pleaded not guilty to those charges in late June.
