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Woman accused of $530K in thefts
Elisa Liberatore-Thomas, 32, of 103 Ann St., Brownsville, Fayette County, is accused of stealing $534,248 from the former Tregembo Ford over a four-year period from January 2004 to January 2008. The dealership is now Tregembo Motors.
She is charged with dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, theft, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds.
Trooper Louis Serafini, who filed the charges against Liberatore-Thomas following an almost two-year investigation, was initially contacted by the owners of the dealership after they discovered that a large amount of money was missing from their accounts.
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Serafini told the owners of the dealership to hire a forensic accountant to conduct an audit of the business to establish the loss and the method used.
The audit showed losses of $534,248 attributable to Liberatore-Thomas, according to the complaint. The audit revealed that cash received by the dealership was not deposited into the dealership's National City Bank business account and improper and unauthorized electronic fund transfers were made from the dealership bank account to make monthly payments to her creditors.
Liberatore-Thomas reportedly admitted under oath at an unemployment compensation hearing that she made transfers for her car payment. She was to reimburse the dealership $30,143 but never did, police said.
DeForest told Serafini that she initially had difficulty believing Liberatore-Thomas had committed the thefts. When DeForest became aware of the cash shortage, she asked Liberatore-Thomas for the bank account statements and books so the records could be reconciled. Liberatore-Thomas told DeForest that some of the items were at her home, which surprised the dealership owner, who felt there was no reason for them to be there, police said.
To date, DeForest has not recovered many of the account statements and books from Liberatore-Thomas.
Serafini obtained a warrant for Liberatore-Thomas' bank records and had a financial analysis done by Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center of her spending and financial patterns. Records indicated she had in excess of $300,000 in deposits into her personal bank accounts during the time of the thefts. As office manger, Liberatore-Thomas was paid about $35,000 a year.
Bank records also showed she had different accounts with National City Bank. Several accounts were related to the business of her husband, Jeffrey Thomas. Police said she would transfer money among the different accounts.
During his client's arraignment before Thompson, defense attorney David DiCarlo asked that Liberatore-Thomas be released on unsecured bond. DiCarlo noted that she works in the area, has family here and is not a flight risk. Liberatore-Thomas is a legal assistant for a law firm.
Serafini countered that bond should be set.
"She is charged with taking more than $530,000," Serafini said. "I have no reason to believe that she is not a flight risk. She has access to a lot of money."
Thompson set bond at $10,000. Family members posted the bond. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled for December.
Classic! : 11/6/2009
She's now employed as a legal assistant! You can't make this stuff up....
