A bookkeeper for a Miami fitness gym was arrested after investigators said she stole more than $115,000 from the business through a payroll fraud scheme.
Maria Fernanda Moya, 45, was arrested Tuesday on charges including organized scheme to defraud, first-degree grand theft, fraudulent use of identification.
According to an arrest report, Moya had worked for an Orangetheory Fitness franchise on Southwest 56th Street dating back to January 2020.
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Moya was a bookkeeper and accounting assistant and among her duties she processed and submitted approved payroll, vendor payments, utility payments and other approved payments and expenses, the report said.
According to the report, a police investigation began in December after an internal audit found that from January 2020 through November 2023, she committed multiple unauthorized transactions.
Investigators discovered that she reactivated former employees using their personal information to receive unauthorized wages into her personal bank account, the report said.
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She then used her access to the company payroll processing program to create fictitious billing cycles to pay herself using the identity of employees without their knowledge and authorization to receive unauthorized direct deposits, the report said.
The scheme caused the business a total loss of $115,358, the report said.
Moya was arrested and booked into jail. She appeared in court Wednesday where a judge appointed her a public defender and granted her a $30,000 bond.
