An Emlenton woman is facing charges after being accused of making unauthorized purchases with her employer’s credit cards and forging several company checks to pay for personal purchases, totaling $24,577 during 2021 and 2022.
On Sept. 6, Frankin state police were contacted by the general manager and the supervisor of Barens Inc. in Cranberry Township who said the business had just fired Chyanne Shuffstall, 32, who worked in the accounts payable department and who was discovered to have been “purchasing personal items online using company funds,” police said in a criminal complaint.
Upon accessing the company’s account to pay a bill, Shuffstall’s supervisor noticed numerous items purchased on Amazon that appeared to be for personal use, the complaint said, adding that Shuffstall had access to several credit cards that had been issued to former company employees, including a retired general manager.
Of the 39 company checks Shuffstall used to pay for her purchases on Amazon, 28 of them appeared to have the former general manager’s signature forged on them, the complaint said.
Shuffstall’s supervisor also provided police with the company’s credit card statements and listed the suspicious purchases that the company had no receipts on file for, the complaint said.
The missing receipts were found in Shuffstall’s desk, rather than in the filing cabinets, which is where they were supposed to be kept, the complaint noted.
When police reviewed credit cards statements between June 2021 and late August 2022 that Barens provided to them, they found the total estimated amount of unauthorized credit card charges was estimated to be $11,155, the complaint notes.
Numerous charges for Tractor Supply, Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, gas stations, a local automotive repair shop and many food purchases were made to company cards, and some purchases were made on weekends and other days when Shuffstall did not come to work, according to the complaint.
Three company credit cards were found in Shuffstall’s desk, including one that belonged to the former general manager and another card that had belonged to someone who had retired from their position in the company’s IT department, the complaint said.
The retired IT employee’s company card was used continuously after his retirement and accounted for the majority of suspicious transactions, the complaint noted.
About $1,212 in suspicious purchases, such as cooking and baking items and other household items, were purchased using company funds from the site where Barens orders office supplies, the complaint said.
Police also obtained receipts and surveillance footage from some of the suspicious transactions at local stores that showed Shuffstall made those purchases, the complaint said.
When police spoke to the retired general manager, he told them that when he retired he left his company credit card with Shuffstall and he also left several other company employees credit cards with her as well, the complaint said.
Police showed him the checks that had his signature forged on them, and he immediately showed police the difference between his actual signature and the forged signatures, the complaint notes.
The retired manager also confirmed the items purchased were of the same kind as things that Shuffstall would buy for herself and that she was never given the impression that this type of personal use of company funds would be authorized, the complaint said.
The retired IT employee told police that he had never used the company card issued to him since his retirement and that when he retired he gave his card to Shuffstall, assuming she would properly dispose of it, the complaint said.
He added that when he worked at Barens, he had the credit card for several years and would only use it for business purposes, such as paper and labels, the complaint said.
When police spoke with Shuffstall, she told them she knew what she did was wrong and she knew why she had been fired, the complaint said.
Shuffstall admitted to forging the checks and making personal purchases online using company funds, knowing that what she was doing was unauthorized and unacceptable, the complaint said.
Shuffstall has been charged with felony counts of forgery, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and access devise issued to another who did not authorize.
Shuffstall was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Patrick Lowrey.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday before Lowrey.
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