MIAMI – A woman who worked as a payroll supervisor at a business in Miami was arrested Tuesday after police linked her to the theft of thousands of dollars from the company’s employees.
Recommended Videos
According to an arrest report from the Miami Police Department, Saidah Christina Byars, 35, of Miami, had recently been hired at Mr. Hospitality Group, located at 999 Brickell Ave., back in March when the company began receiving complaints from various employees who claimed they did not receive their paycheck.
Police said management initially believed there was an error with the new payroll system the company was using, but within the following weeks, they learned that more than 10 current and terminated employees had their direct deposit information changed to two PNC Bank accounts.
According to the arrest report, an internal audit was conducted by the company’s IT department, which found that Byars had made the direct deposit changes using her personal email address.
Police said her email was linked to the two bank accounts.
According to the arrest report, Byars received numerous deposits ranging from $518.29 to $1,596.41.
In total, the victims suffered a loss of $46,135.21, authorities said.
Police said the funds were quickly depleted from her accounts via debit card purchases at various stores, ATM withdrawals and Cash App payments.
According to the report, Byars last went to work at Mr. Hospitality Group on May 19 and discovered that her access to the payroll system had been removed.
Police said she walked out of the office and no one from the company was ever able to contact her again.
She was arrested Tuesday by a detective and transported to the Miami Police Department for questioning.
Police said Byars denied stealing the money and claimed she had a shared computer at the company that anyone could use, and that any/all changes dealing with payroll had been approved by her supervisor.
Byars was arrested on charges of grand theft, organized fraud and fraudulent use of identification.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Byars remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where her total bond had yet to be set.