The creation of a fictitious worker facilitated the theft of more than $18,000 from a mushroom company, New Garden Township Police said.
On Tuesday, Jan. 27, New Garden Police announced the arrest of Deseon Eggleston, 33, of Downingtown. Eggleston had worked from August until December as the payroll manager for Modern Mushroom, Inc., located in the 1300 block of Newark Road in New Garden Township, police said.
Police said they received information that during an internal audit, officials at Modern Mushroom discovered a series of thefts that spanned several months. Police said the investigation revealed that Eggleston had created a fictitious employee account, supplemented with supporting documents. Once the fake worker was created, Eggleston directed company assets in excess of $18,000 into the fraudulent personal bank account, which Eggleston could access, police said.
On Friday, Jan. 23, investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Eggleston, who was taken into custody without incident during a routine traffic stop the following day. Eggleston was arraigned and released on $25,000 unsecured bail, police said.
According to court records, a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6 at 9 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Matthew Seavey on charges that include theft, access device fraud and identify theft.
Records also show that Eggleston was charged with theft and receiving stolen property in 2000 by Downingtown Police; he was placed into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program for non-violent, first-time offenders.
