A HORSE clinic receptionist is accused of grand theft after being accidentally overpaid $400,000 in veterinarian checks.
Yessica Arrua, a 29-year-old from Wellington, Florida, found herself under arrest after she allegedly pocketed excess funds and used more than half of it on shopping and family transfers.
According to a report from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, Yessica, who earned an annual salary of $60,000, received overpayments between February 2022 and January 2023. This information was reported by the Daily Mail.
Despite allegedly acknowledging her awareness of the overpayments, Yessica claimed she believed the surplus money was a “bonus” for her role as a receptionist, as per the police report.
She said she “heard rumours before that the previous receptionist had received one for saving the practice money on supplies”.
The Palm Beach Equine Clinic’s (PBEC) spotted the mistake in early 2023 and alerted the company’s payroll provider, Harbor America.
Yessica was arrested on June 27.
She allegedly did not report the overpayment to the clinic, instead spending the money at stores like Coach, Michael Kors, furniture shops and restaurants, according to the report.
It added that thousands of dollars were sent through Zelle to a person nicknamed “Mama Dukes”, while $80,000 was used to buy a food truck for a friend of Arrua’s mother.
Yessica said that she also sent money to people in Argentina – where she is originally from – to build a house.
The 29-year-old had been working at PBEC for nine years.
She is said to have known the company president – who reported her to the police – since the age of nine.
The veterinarian on the annual salary of $450,000 “did not monitor her checking account and deposits for the past year”, according to the police report.
She only realised that she had not been paid when her credit cards declined, it added.
When the veterinarian confronted her, Yessica “broke down crying and admitted the criminal action”, according to the police report.
She then issued a cashier’s check for $200,000 of the estimated $414,000 she pocketed.
But she claimed she could not return the rest of the money because her mother had already sent $100,000 of it to family in Argentina, who thought it was a “gift from God”, according to the police report.
Yessica has been charged with grand theft and money laundering, each involving sums of $100,000 or more.
She is currently in custody at Palm Beach’s Main Detention Center.
The PBEC, a full-service 24-hour equine medical facility operating since 1981, is ran by President Dr Scott Swerdlin.
The police report stated that President Swerdlin wanted Harbor America and Yessica Arrua to be held accountable.
Police were reportedly told by representatives from Harbor America that the individuals who knew about the error were no longer employed by the firm.
It comes as a British man was scammed out of £200 after being sweet-talked by a fake Jennifer Aniston begging for cash for “Apple subscriptions”.
Paul Davis, 43, from Southampton, handed over the money after believing he was talking to the Friends star on Facebook.
Paul, who battles depression, revealed how he was bombarded with dozens of eerily convincing videos from fake celebrity accounts.
