A Miami fitness gym’s bookkeeper was apprehended for allegedly embezzling over $115,000 from the company through a scheme involving payroll fraud.
Maria Fernanda Moya, aged 45, was apprehended on Tuesday for multiple charges, including organized scheme to defraud, first-degree grand theft, and fraudulent use of identification.
Moya had been employed at an Orangetheory Fitness franchise on Southwest 56th Street since January 2020, as per the arrest report.
Moya, an accomplished bookkeeper and accounting assistant, was responsible for a wide range of tasks. One of her key responsibilities included processing and submitting approved payroll, vendor payments, utility payments, and various other authorized payments and expenses.
A police investigation was initiated in December after an internal audit discovered that she had engaged in several unauthorized transactions from January 2020 to November 2023.
According to the report, investigators found that she used the personal information of former employees to reactivate their accounts and receive unauthorized wages into her own bank account.
According to the report, she utilized her access to the company’s payroll processing program to generate false billing cycles. This allowed her to receive unauthorized direct deposits by posing as other employees, without their knowledge or consent.
According to the report, the business incurred a significant loss of $115,358 due to the scheme.
Moya found herself in custody and was processed at the local jail. On Wednesday, she made an appearance in court, where a judge assigned her a public defender and set her bail at $30,000.