A payroll manager for the San Francisco Giants has been arrested by the FBI for suspected embezzlement of more than $1.5 million after she admitted to channeling $608,562.09 of the team's payroll money to her personal bank account and forging a letter seeking a bank loan for a house in San Diego, the San Francisco Chronicle reports today.
41-year-old Robin O'Connor has been charged with wire fraud and fraud in connection with a computer, the paper reports.
"We discovered some possible misconduct, which resulted in her dismissal," Staci Slaughter, Giants' senior vice president of communications, told the paper. "We immediately contacted the U.S. attorney's office and turned the situation over to them."
She wouldn't say which players or other employees had been short-changed by the diversion.
"Giants management became suspicious of O'Connor on July 5, when the human resources manager was contacted by a Bank of America home-loan representative, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by FBI Special Agent Jason Richards, an investigator on the case.
"In the loan file was a letter on Giants letterhead allegedly signed by the head of human resources explaining two large deposits into O'Connor's bank account."
According to Chronicle, the allegedly forged letter said:
"Robin is an employee in good standing with the San Francisco Giants Baseball Organization. Because of her outstanding contributions to our Major League Baseball team and Front Office during the 2010 season that assisted us in accomplishing our goal of winning the 2010 World Series, she was given two additional payments of compensation in May 2011."
UPDATE: According to her profile on the website Linkedin, between October 2005 and July 2007 O'Connor worked as payroll supervisor at Cymer, a San Diego-based maker of photolithography products for use by the semiconductor industry.
"I am a professional with over twenty years of payroll and accounting experience," according to her profile statement. "I have an in-depth knowledge of several payroll systems including ADP and Pro Business. Additionally, I have experience utilizing several Human Resource Interface Systems including PeopleSoft, Enterprise and Oracle.
"My roles over the years have involved daily contact with several departments within a company. I am extremely knowledgeable in the payroll tax area, and I have acted as a liaison with Local, State and Federal Governments and other external agencies to provide any required information as well as resolving any problems. I have numerous years of experience managing staff, interviewing, hiring and training personnel as necessary."
UPDATE 2: The Linkedin profile has been taken offline as of late morning Pacific time.
A payroll manager for the San Francisco Giants has been arrested by the FBI for suspected embezzlement of more than $1.5 million after she admitted to channeling $608,562.09 of the team's payroll money to her personal bank account and forging a letter seeking a bank loan for a house in San Diego, the San Francisco Chronicle reports today.
41-year-old Robin O'Connor has been charged with wire fraud and fraud in connection with a computer, the paper reports.
"We discovered some possible misconduct, which resulted in her dismissal," Staci Slaughter, Giants' senior vice president of communications, told the paper. "We immediately contacted the U.S. attorney's office and turned the situation over to them."
She wouldn't say which players or other employees had been short-changed by the diversion.
"Giants management became suspicious of O'Connor on July 5, when the human resources manager was contacted by a Bank of America home-loan representative, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by FBI Special Agent Jason Richards, an investigator on the case.
"In the loan file was a letter on Giants letterhead allegedly signed by the head of human resources explaining two large deposits into O'Connor's bank account."
According to Chronicle, the allegedly forged letter said:
"Robin is an employee in good standing with the San Francisco Giants Baseball Organization. Because of her outstanding contributions to our Major League Baseball team and Front Office during the 2010 season that assisted us in accomplishing our goal of winning the 2010 World Series, she was given two additional payments of compensation in May 2011."
UPDATE: According to her profile on the website Linkedin, between October 2005 and July 2007 O'Connor worked as payroll supervisor at Cymer, a San Diego-based maker of photolithography products for use by the semiconductor industry.
"I am a professional with over twenty years of payroll and accounting experience," according to her profile statement. "I have an in-depth knowledge of several payroll systems including ADP and Pro Business. Additionally, I have experience utilizing several Human Resource Interface Systems including PeopleSoft, Enterprise and Oracle.
"My roles over the years have involved daily contact with several departments within a company. I am extremely knowledgeable in the payroll tax area, and I have acted as a liaison with Local, State and Federal Governments and other external agencies to provide any required information as well as resolving any problems. I have numerous years of experience managing staff, interviewing, hiring and training personnel as necessary."
UPDATE 2: The Linkedin profile has been taken offline as of late morning Pacific time.