Woman accused of embezzling from office

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - Police said a woman who embezzled money from a Pensacola doctor's office was arrested for stealing over $40,000 over a 4-year period.

Ellen Renee Garrett, 55, of Pensacola was arrested Friday afternoon on an outstanding warrant and charged with one count of grand theft, Pensacola Police said.

Detective Cliff Lyster with the Pensacola Police Department said Garrett was an employee of Gulf Coast Podiatry since 2002 and had been embezzling funds from patient payments.

Lyster said it was Garrett’s responsibility to post payments to patient accounts. An investigation determined she didn’t post payments as she should, nor did she deposit cash into business accounts. Lyster said Garrett would cover up her activity by fraudulently posting a transaction to reduce the balance on patient’s accounts by the amount of money they’d paid.

Lyster said evidence indicates Garrett embezzled $43,739.34 during the past four years, an amount discovered during a recent audit of business accounts.