Erie optometry worker accused of stealing money from practice. What police say she did
An Erie woman who worked as a business manager for an eye doctor in the city is accused of stealing over $100,000 from the practice by writing herself checks and making unauthorized purchases, city police allege in a criminal complaint filed on Tuesday.
Carol A. Harrington, 62, was released on $100,000 unsecured bond following her arraignment Tuesday afternoon on second-degree felony counts of forgery and theft and on third-degree felony counts of bad checks, access device fraud and receiving stolen property. She is accused by police of stealing $101,139.65 from Family Eye Care, 1344 W. 38th St., between 2017 and 2022, according to information in her criminal complaint.
Erie lawyer Eric Hackwelder, who is representing Harrington in the case, said Wednesday that his firm is conducting its own investigation into the matter.
What do police allege?
The Erie Bureau of Police detective who filed the charges against Harrington wrote in the affidavit of probable cause filed with her criminal complaint that a forensic audit done on four of Family Eye Care's business accounts determined the total amount Harrington is accused of taking. Harrington took the money by making unauthorized purchases and writing unauthorized checks which she signed by using a stamp containing the eye doctor's signature, the detective wrote in the affidavit.
A search warrant served on Harrington's bank account revealed a large number of checks deposited into her account that matched checks the eye doctor claimed were not authorized by her, according to information in the affidavit.
The investigation into the alleged thefts was launched in January 2023, when police took a report about the theft of funds from Family Eye Care. The report stated the eye doctor had a large sum of money taken by her business manager, Harrington, over approximately seven years, according to the affidavit. At the time of the report, police said the total amount taken was unknown but was estimated to be over $50,000.
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Investigators learned that Harrington began working for the eye doctor in 2015 and was employed until Dec. 24 2022. A month before the employment ended, according to the affidavit, the eye doctor began to find discrepancies between QuickBooks entries and the copies of checks received. Numerous entries were found to vendors and reimbursements to Harrington, but the checks corresponding to those entries were made directly to Harrington and labeled as pay advances, bonuses and other things, the detective wrote in the affidavit.
Copies of checks that police received were made out to Harrington and were cashed at a local grocery store and deposited into a bank account. Police also found statements of unauthorized Amazon purchases, according to the affidavit.
The detective wrote that the eye doctor reported that Harrington stated to her that "it wasn't personal," and, "I have a gambling problem." At one point, Harrington reportedly gave the eye doctor a check for $5,000 in a possible attempt at restitution, according to the affidavit.
Harrington is scheduled to appear in court for her preliminary hearing on July 11, according to court documents.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie police accuse woman of stealing $100,000 from employer
