Longtime Bookkeeper Charged in Million Dollar Fraud/Theft
West Melbourne, Fl- In June 2017, an employee of Hills, Inc located at 7785 Ellis Road in West Melbourne discovered numerous questionable financial transactions when the bookkeeper of the business was on vacation. This inadvertent discovery was reported to West Melbourne Police which lead to a 10 month long criminal investigation. As part of that investigation, Detectives issued numerous subpoenas to banks and credit card companies. The financial records obtained were used to develop probable cause for the arrest of former employee Rodolfo Olivas. Olivas was arrested this morning, April 12, on fraud and theft charges.
The prolonged investigation revealed Olivas had been stealing from the company dating back to 2010. Since the 2017 discovery, Detectives have found through financial records that Olivas’ fraudulent activity totaled approximately $1.3 million. Olivas carried out his crimes by using business checks, multiple credit card accounts, and numerous bank accounts. When he went on vacation in 2017, another employee did Olivas’ work. They discovered credit card and checking accounts that nobody else knew about.
West Melbourne Detectives applied for a search warrant for Olivas’ residence in Indialantic, FL. The Judge found there was probable cause to grant the search warrant. The search warrant was served on Thursday morning, April 12, 2018. As part of that search warrant, not only are detectives looking for evidence related to Olivas’ crimes, the warrant also authorizes the seizure of any illegally obtained goods. Olivas will be booked into the Brevard County Jail and bond has been set at $721,000 bond.
Hills, Inc has issued a statement which is attached to this press release.
Company Name: Hills Inc. Website: www.hillsinc.net
Address: 7785 Ellis Road West Melbourne, FL 32904
Contact: Allison Hanney Email: ahanney@hillsinc.net Date: April 12, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In 2017, Hills discovered that it was a victim of employee theft. At the time of discovery, Hills immediately terminated employment of this individual without incident, and after a brief internal investigation to confirm the gravity of the matter, Hills contacted the West Melbourne Police Department. Hills was shocked and saddened by the nature and volume of this crime.
Hills successfully managed to ensure that this crime had absolutely no effect on our services and payments to our Customers, Business Partners, and Suppliers. However, Hills has always distributed a significant portion of its annual profits to our Employees, and since this crime affected our profits, Hills Employees failed to receive the maximum profit sharing they earned, and thus also became victims. We greatly appreciate the highly professional services of the West Melbourne Police Department especially Detective Brickhouse and Detective Campbell as well as the State Attorney’s office for their diligence in pursuing this case, and look forward to working with them to close this matter.
