Published in the High Desert Advocate February 19th, 2021 Edition.
Elaine A. Taylor, 48, from Elko Nevada, Office manager and Bookeeper lists 89 checks that she allegedly cashed from her landscaping employer, has been arrested this past week by Elko County Sheriff and Police Dpt. Bail set at $ 30,000.(photo credit Elko County Sheriff’s Dept.)
An Elko woman, office manager and bookkeeper accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from a local landscaping business has been arrested on multiple charges.
A criminal complaint filed in September against Elaine A. Taylor, 48, lists 89 checks that she allegedly cashed or attempted to cash from the business account while she served as office manager and bookkeeper over the past three years.
According to a police report, the business owner began noticing a pattern of Taylor “writing herself a payroll check and then forging herself another check around that same time.”
Because of COVID-19 pandemic, the detective with the Elko Police Department who began the investigation in February of last year (2020) had to go on extended leave.
When the investigation resumed, the Elko police was told that a local restaurant owner paid the business more than $10,000. in cash that was never deposited in the business account.
After the officers interviewed Taylor in August, she reportedly sent an email to her former employer admitting to writing the checks to herself, and apologizing. A copy of the email was given to the police as evidence. Taylor is charged with embezzling more than $3,500 and forging 89 checks. Both are felonies.
Local authorities didn’t say if she has a lawyer or will be appointed one at a pending court appearance.
