Former employee to face charges of embezzlement

By Carey Phillips

Amy Thornton, 24, former office manager for Diversified Personnel, is charged with 59 counts of forgery, 59 counts of uttering and 15 counts of embezzlement, according to Detective Steve Lillard of the Sylva Police Department.

Thornton listed a Selma address, but she lived in Haywood County while working for the company, Lillard said. She was indicted by the Jackson County Grand Jury on July 22 and was arrested Aug. 12, he said.

Lillard said the incidents occurred from October 2000 through March of this year.

"(Thornton) was using a company credit card for personal purchases and depositing checks made out to other employees into her account," he said. "She was office manager and was in charge of the accounting, bookkeeping and payroll."

The amount of money the company lost could be more than $90,000, but that was the total authorities felt they had evidence with which to charge Thornton, Lillard said.

Dan Schaeffer, who owned the medical staffing company, said Thornton had worked for Diversified Personnel since December 1999. The firm had 120 employees, both full- and part-time, and served areas of Western North Carolina from Interstate 26 west, he said.

Schaeffer said he first noticed a problem in March of this year when he discovered an employee who had quit in June 2000 was still receiving pay checks and unauthorized charges were appearing on credit card statements.

"I knew our company was doing well," he said. "I couldn't understand why our bank balance did not reflect that."

The office closed March 17, one week after Schaeffer first noticed the discrepancy.

"I am not declaring bankruptcy," Schaeffer said. "It is too easy to go bankrupt. I plan to pay off my bills. I have already paid payroll taxes with the federal government and unemployment taxes."

Schaeffer is now employed as a business development consultant for the medical staffing division of USA Staffing, which is based in Asheville and covers all of Western North Carolina.

"I can't concentrate on what I have lost," Schaeffer said. "I have to concentrate on what I still have - like my family."

Feature Editor Rose Hooper contributed to this report.

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