Cuyahoga County worker charged in welfare thefts

Here is an updated story on my original post about money that was missing from Department of Employment Services.

It appears an employee has been stealing the money for 13 years. It is pretty hard to swallow that an employee can steal like this for 13 years without being caught, but then again, this IS Cuyahoga County.

From the PD --

A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Juanita Jackson Myrick on charges accusing her of stealing $877,258 from the Department of Employment and Family Services over 13 years.

Myrick, 41, has worked for the department for 17 years. In 1994, she began stealing money from CFS by writing checks to her sister from cases that were no longer receiving assistance, according to Prosecutor Bill Mason's office.

The checks would be sent to a post office box and Myrick deposited them into a bank account that was in her and her sister's names, according to the charges.

The thefts were discovered in April by the fraud investigation unit of the department. Myrick, who made about $48,000 last year as a supervisor in the department, was suspended after the thefts were discovered.