Kissimmee woman bilked employer with $447,000 worth of fraudulent checks, police say

Police expect charges to be upgraded as investigation continues

Marion Chamberlain, 37 (Copyright 2021 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

HAINES CITY, Fla. – A woman from Kissimmee faces charges in Polk County after she wrote checks from her employer to her husband and herself, according to Haines City police.

Marion Chamberlain, 37, was employed as a comptroller at a car dealership in Haines City, police said, and began writing checks to herself and her husband in February 2020.

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In all, Chamberlain wrote 64 checks totaling $447,000, investigators said. The fraudulent checks were discovered during an audit by Miracle Toyota, where Chamberlain had been employed since 2017, records show.

Chamberlain was tasked with logging vendors, issuing payments and accounting for the company’s finances, police said. In order to cover her track, investigators said she created new vendors in the company’s accounting system.

A financial services company that cashes checks provided 11 fraudulent checks that were cashed by Chamberlain, totaling nearly $80,000, according to a news release. Investigators said they are now looking into whether Chamberlain cashed any checks with other financial institutions.

Chamberlain faces charges of grand theft of between $20,000 and $100,000 and obtaining property of greater than $50,000 by fraud. Police expect those charges to be upgraded as their investigation continues.


About the Author:

Thomas Mates is a digital storyteller for News 6 and ClickOrlando.com. He also produces the podcast Florida Foodie. Thomas is originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania and worked in Portland, Oregon before moving to Central Florida in August 2018. He graduated from Temple University with a degree in Journalism in 2010.