Brian Simon is accused of stealing $529,647 from the Beallsville, Pa., club between January 2007 and March 2013. Simon has been charged with 168 counts of forgery, 11 counts of identity theft and one count each of theft, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity.
The former General Manager of Nemacolin Country Club in Beallsville, Pa., was arrested January 8 by state police for allegedly embezzling more than a half-million dollars from the club over a six-year period, according to a report by the Washington (Pa.) Observer-Reporter.
Brian Lee Simon, 35, was arraigned before District Judge Joshua Kanalis on 168 counts of forgery, 11 counts of identity theft and one count each of theft, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, the Observer-Reporter reported.
Simon is accused of stealing $529,647 from the country club between January 2007 and March 2013. Police said that as General Manager, Simon had control over the kitchen and dining areas, lounge, meeting rooms, administration and golf course, the Observer-Reporter reported.
Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone said the country club Board noticed losses and discovered checks that were issued that were not supported by bona fide documents, the Observer-Reporter reported.
Andrew Richards, a certified fraud specialist, was hired as a private investigator to look into the financial loss at the country club. Richards determined that the money was embezzled by Simon through the use of company checks. Vittone said Simon would deposit the checks into his own bank account, the Observer-Reporter reported.
Police indicated in court documents that Simon conducted his scheme in four separate ways. Simon would have checks issued to him for fictitious expenses, create checks for a person with no affiliation to the country club, present fraudulent invoices for items not received by the club, and create checks for actual vendors that Simon would forge and deposit into his PNC account, the Observer-Reporter reported.
Police said Simon received $254,997 in checks made out to him as reimbursement for expenses that he did not incur. He also presented fraudulent invoices using the identity of a fictitious person and negotiated 85 checks totaling $168,919. He received another $31,830 by creating checks for a person who was not connected to the club, and deposited another $63,925 in forged checks made out to vendors, the Observer-Reporter reported.
Police reviewed a recorded interview between Richards and Simon, in which the former manager reportedly admitted his role in the thefts. Simon was placed in Washington County jail on $529,647 bond, the amount of the theft. A preliminary hearing is set for January 24, the Observer-Reporter reported.
A message left at the country club for one of the officers by the Observer-Reporter was not returned by press time.
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