CLARION BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) – Felony theft charges have been filed against a Tionesta woman who allegedly stole a total of $11,917.28 from an area business and two assisted living clients.

According to court documents, the Clarion Borough Police Department filed criminal charges against 63-year-old Debra Elaine Whittington.

According to a criminal complaint, around 3:03 p.m. on June 12, Clarion Borough Police received a complaint from the executive director of a business in Clarion Borough regarding an employee of the business, identified as Debra Elaine Whittington, who had been stealing money from two clients who require assisted living.

The director told police that the victims’ families had both inquired about missing money and had requested documentation of the victims’ expenses. Whittington was advised to provide the documentation to the families, according to the complaint.

Although Whittington provided the documents, they were missing several initials from the victims, which are typically required. Whittington was then suspended from her position, pending further investigation, the complaint indicates.

According to the complaint, the director told police that after Whittington was suspended, the original documents were located in Whittington’s office, documenting the missing money. The director provided police with both sets of documents and advised that Whittington also possessed a company credit card during her employment, as well.

The complaint states that when Whittington was suspended, she told the director that she had “accidentally” used the company credit card to pay one of her personal bills. The director planned to get the credit card statements, review the charges, and provide police with documentation of any unauthorized charges. She also provided police with a screenshot of two text messages she had received from Whittington, stating: “can U tell me if U think I will get called back to work. Please be honest,” and, “If I would resign, could we avoid any hearings or criminal charges?”

Police then made contact with Whittington and requested she come in for an interview.

Whittington initially denied taking any money from the victims, but when confronted with the two separate sets of documents, she admitted she had been stealing from her clients, according to the complaint.

Whittington reportedly said she had been taking money from her clients for approximately a year and a half. When asked how much money she had taken, Whittington said she was unsure, but went on to say she “took a $20 here and a $20 there,” the complaint indicates.

When she was asked if she took the money because she felt she wasn’t being paid enough at work, she responded in the affirmative, but then quickly said she wanted that statement “off the record,” and added: “It’s not the company’s fault, it’s my fault,” according to the complaint.

When questioned about the two sets of records, Whittington said that when she was asked to provide the documents, she had to create a second record to cover the money she had taken, and that was why the victims’ initials were missing from the one set of documents, the complaint states.

Police spoke to the director again on June 15.

According to the complaint, the director reported Whittington was also in charge of payroll, and a review of payroll records discovered that Whittington had been paying herself for extra hours she had not worked. She noted there were pays with as much as 20 to 30 extra hours added.

On June 19, the director provided police with documentation of the amounts missing from the victims and the payroll.

The records indicated that between August 2017 through June 2, 2020, the following transactions occurred:

– Whittington overpaid herself in the amount of $5,334.00 by adding extra hours to her timesheet;
– $1,586.46 was taken from the two victim’s “family account”;
– $2,468.76 was taken from the first victim’s account;
– $2,439.61 was taken from the second victim’s account; and
– $88.45 was paid to a known utility company from the company credit card.

According to the complaint, the total restitution owed is $11,917.28.

In a second interview, Whittington was asked about the payroll overpayment, and she reportedly claimed the overpayment was because she “sold back days that she had earned.” When asked about the number of days she sold back, she told police she had 160 days saved up and sold some of them back. When she was advised that the extra hours she had overpaid herself totaled 392 hours, Whittington said she did not have that many hours and did not know how that happened, the complaint states.

Police then spoke to the director again. It was learned that Whittington had only sold back days once, and it was noted that employees were not even permitted by policy to bank 160 days, according to the complaint.

The charges against Whittington were filed through Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn’s office on June 24.

Court documents indicate she was arraigned in front of Judge Quinn at 1:04 p.m. on Monday, July 13, on the following charges:

– Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Felony 3
– Theft By Deception-Fail To Correct, Felony 3
– Receiving Stolen Property, Felony 3

She is currently free on $2,500.00 unsecured bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, with Judge Quinn presiding.