Police: Canton Township woman stole $134k from Southpointe apartment complex
A Canton Township woman was charged Tuesday with stealing $134,684 in concessions, money orders and through the purchase of furniture from a Southpointe apartment complex.
Cecil police filed a felony theft charge against the suspect, Jennifer Mantalis, 48, of 172 Malone Ridge Road in a case reported to the department Sept. 18, court records show.
The allegations were raised by a woman who replaced her as property manager at The Reserve who discovered money orders used for rent payments had been stolen, along with other accounting problems used to cover the losses.
Mantalis had allegedly asked tenants to pay their rent with money orders because the office’s check reader was broken, police stated in the affidavit.
Several tenants of the complex, now managed by Morgan Properties, complained after receiving eviction notices. Police said $10,813 of the money was used to purchase furniture for Mantalis’ personal property charged to corporate clients, police allege in charging documents.
Some of the tenants were offered concessions to cover the stolen money orders, court records show.
Mantalis was arraigned Tuesday before Senior District Judge Jesse J. Cramer who released her on $10,000 unsecured bond.
Her attorney, Randall T. Ricciuti, could not be reached Tuesday afternoon for comment.