Reed to face theft charges-Investigators say she stole thousands from Precision Engineering

A trusted employee has been charged with embezzling thousands from her employer and doctoring the books to cover her crime. The suspect, Jennifer R. Reed, 35, was bound over to the grand jury recently by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross on 12 counts of theft and forgery, something investigators say is just part of the case she will face if the crimes are indicted by the grand jury next month. ‘We have found four more cases which will, in themselves, amount to about $4,000, and will lead to additional charges,’ said sheriff’s investigator Capt. Tommy Myers. ‘This will amount to thousands of dollars as the thefts were each for several hundred dollars.’ Investigators say Reed was an office worker with Precision Engineering and had access to the company’s books and checks. At some point in recent months, Reed began removing money from the company’s account, first writing checks and cashing them and then later depositing money directly into her personal account. The amounts, according to the warrants against her, vary from as low as $335 to as high as $780. The four latest thefts, Myers noted, involved amounts around $1,000 each. ‘At some point she got in way over her head,’ Myers said of the continued thefts. ‘She would adjust the books so it wouldn’t show up but eventually it caught up to her.’ What eventually ended the spree and led to Reed’s arrest was that she had failed to pay vendors who were owed money by the company. Instead of making payments to the vendors, Reed had reportedly deposited the money into her own account, leaving company debts unpaid. When vendors began asking the owners why they had not been paid, the inconsistencies in the company books came to light, pointing the finger at Reed. For Precision Engineering, it is the second time it has been victimized by an office worker in three years as another employee was caught embezzling from the company in 2006.