Woman accused of stealing over $200k from Fort Myers business, spending money on online gambling

A Cape Coral woman is accused of stealing over $200,000 from her place of work and spending it on online gambling currency, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. In an arrest report, LCSO says that deputies with the Economic Crimes Unit responded to Extreme Demolition & Land Clearing in Fort Myers regarding an employee theft and fraud investigation. The business owners told deputies that Brenda Allen, 48, was hired as a bookkeeper and office manager for the company and had unrestricted access to their finances. During the months following Allen's employment, the owners told deputies that they began noticing discrepancies in the bookkeeping. They said that they noticed duplicate payroll processing and unexplained shortages in the operating accounts. It was later revealed, through a review of the company's QuickBooks, that there were numerous duplicate vendor profiles that appeared nearly identical to legitimate company vendors. Further investigation later revealed that personal checking accounts were attached to these duplicate vendor profiles, the arrest report says. Deputies say that Allen had contacted the company's payroll provider without the owners knowing, and obtained payroll loans to fund employee payroll during periods where the company's funds had been depleted. Detectives with LCSO later found out that between January and April, 63 fraudulent electronic vendor payments were issued from the company's bank accounts into eight personal bank accounts under Allen's sole ownership and control, the arrest report says. A total of $212,618 was depleted from the company. According to Allen's bank records, approximately $215,000 was spent on online gambling currency. Allen was arrested on Thursday and faces charges of grand theft over $100,000 and organized scheme to defraud over $50,000. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.