PROVIDENCE, R.I. – An office manager at a South Providence medical office overpaid herself and two colleagues by more than $1 million, then tried to hide the fraud by staging a phony break-in, state police said.
But the three were arrested earlier this month after a backup copy of payroll records at University Otolaryngology exposed the crime, police said.
Patricia Lemois, 56, of Warwick faces felony charges including breaking and entering and larceny after allegedly overpaying herself by about $800,000 over at least three years.
Lemois, who was in charge of payroll, also funneled about $228,000 to former employee Joanne Marseglia and $100,000 to maintenance worker David Starnino, who helped stage the break-in, police said. The three were arrested on Nov. 17.
Marseglia, 41, of Warwick, faces charges including obtaining money under false pretenses.
Starnino, 50, of Providence, faces charges including breaking and entering a business and larceny over $500.
Numbers for Lemois and Starnino could not be located Saturday and they could not be reached for comment. Marseglia’s number was unpublished and she could not be reached for comment.
State police Lt. LeRoy Rose said Lemois arranged the phony break-in after learning the office was going to hire a financial supervisor.
Rose said Lemois and Starnino stole two office laptops and a desktop computer that had a backup disk of payroll records.
But when office staffers called police about the Oct. 27 break-in, they also called the office’s accounting firm. The firm had the backup copy of payroll records, and that eventually exposed the embezzlement, Rose said.
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