Bookkeeper cashed checks worth $714K
Fishkill Auto Body on Route 52 is suing PCSB Bank to recoup $714,000 that a former bookkeeper stole over more than two years.
The company said in a lawsuit filed Feb. 23 in Dutchess County Supreme Court that PCSB “failed to use ordinary care in validating the authorized signatory” on checks payable to “cash” and presented by Suzanne Whitman from November 2019 to May 2022.
Whitman, who was arrested and charged in December 2022, forged the name of someone who was authorized to sign the checks, according to Fishkill Auto Body.
The Poughkeepsie resident pleaded guilty in March 2023 to grand larceny. She also pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny in a separate case in which she attempted to defraud Ulster Savings Bank on a $450,000 mortgage. She was sentenced to up to 18 years in prison.
