Investigators say Keener stole nearly $100K from Phillips 66: She?s one of four charged with embezzlement
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The largest arrest in the roundup of alleged blue-collar thieves is Joyce Keener, former manager of Phillips 66, who lawmen say stole close to $100,000 worth of money and lottery tickets.
According to the indictment, charging theft over $60,000, the thefts were committed over a period of around two years. Prosecutors say they have not figured out how much money was made by cashing in the lottery tickets.
Debbie M. Masey, a former manager at Super-Rama, was also indicted for theft of property with prosecutors saying she also stole lottery tickets from her employer. Lawmen say the state lottery commission has a way of tracking such unaccounted lottery tickets.
Angela Bost was arrested after her victim was dead. Lawmen say Bost manipulated accounts while working for Ben Vaughn Insurance, with some of her alleged thefts occurring after his death of natural causes. An audit of Vaughn?s books following his death led to Bost?s arrest.
A fourth alleged embezzler, Megan Starkey, was indicted for stealing from Precision Instruments where she was office manager.
The rash of crimes, all committed by otherwise trusted employees, has District Attorney General Dale Potter suggesting businesses have regular audits.
?We?re seeing these crimes getting more prevalent,? Potter said. ?These were all obviously trusted people since they were entrusted with money from the businesses. My best advice is for business owners to have outside audits on a regular basis.?
As for lottery ticket thefts, lawmen suspect employees stealing the game cards do not understand the state has ways to track who has cashed in any winning card, thereby making employee lottery card theft a literal gamble.