Norwalk Transit District employee embezzles $24,000
NORWALK CT May 12 2017 — A Norwalk Transit District employee turned himself in to police Monday morning on allegations he embezzled more than $24,000 in fraudulent payroll checks over a six-month period.
Otis Weeks, 39, of Carlin Street was arrested on a warrant and charged with first-degree larceny, and 25 counts each of third-degree identity theft and second-degree forgery. He is being held on $100,000 bond.
Police say that their investigation began in February 2017 after a complaint from the Transit District about Weeks allegedly misappropriating checks.
Police say that the alleged misappropriations occurred between August 2016 and February 2017.
According to court records, Weeks had been employed at Norwalk Transit District since 2008 and became a supervisor in 2015. Along with his responsibilities of scheduling and assigning bus runs, he approved the weekly payroll.
Weeks manipulated the payroll, police say, adding hours to certain employees’ pay, which generated a separate paycheck. Police said Weeks then stole these checks, forging the employee’s signatures in order to deposit them.
Checks for unsubstantiated hours ranged from $21.58 to $888.70 each, according to court records.
According to court records, Weeks adjusted the payroll, “adding 968.09 hours, totaling $23,659.81.” It is also alleged that he deposited seven checks totaling $3,596.39 of an employee that was currently not working, and another $441.59 from employee uniform reimbursement.
During the course of the investigation, police accessed Weeks’ bank account and uncovered numerous doubly-endorsed checks issued to employees that had been deposited into his account.
The employees were interviewed and said that they were unaware that the checks had been deposited into Weeks’ account.
Lt. Thomas Mattera, commander of the Norwalk police detective bureau, said that the investigation is closed and that no other arrests are anticipated.
Court records state that when the alleged theft was reported, Weeks was on a “last chance” leave as he was “previously found on Facebook not attending to his duties as well as … showing sports games and that Weeks was gambling.”
According to court records, Weeks stated that he started adding hours and taking checks because he is “sick, his son is sick, and that insurance is not covering all the costs,” and stated that he “started adding hours and taking checks … when the medical bills started adding up.”
Court records state that Weeks had told police that “This is not who he was and was very sorry for what he had done.”
At his arraignment at Norwalk Superior Court on Monday afternoon, he was represented for bond purposes by attorney Michael Skiber. Judge Alex Hernandez ordered Weeks’ bond to remain as set.
Weeks’ case was transferred to the Part A docket at Stamford Superior Court, where more serious cases are adjudicated. His next court appearance date will be May 18.
Detective Dominick Cisero investigated the complaint against Weeks.
