Crime & Public Safety
An East Norriton woman has been sentenced to probation for stealing more than $43,000 from her former employer in Franconia Township.
Jacqueline Jay, 45, was sentenced to five years’ probation on May 24 after pleading guilty to felony counts of theft by deception and access device fraud. As part of the plea agreement with prosecutors, additional charges of receiving stolen property and theft by failure to make required deposit of funds were dropped, court records show.
Jay was also ordered to make full restitution, according to sentencing notes.
The owner of All My Children Childcare and Learning Center on Allentown Road reported to police on April 12, 2023 that a former employee, identified as Jay, had allegedly stolen $11,982.29 from his business via depositing duplicate checks that had initially been made out to vendors but were later altered and deposited into Jay’s bank account. The owner reported that the thefts began in March 2022 and carried through April 2023, adding that Jay had since moved to San Antonio in March 2023, according to charging documents.
Investigators said they confirmed numerous mobile deposits of All My Children checks into Jay’s personal account, and they also acquired video of her withdrawing a large sum of money from her account at a bank in San Antonio. Further investigation revealed additional checks the owner was unaware of, including incoming checks from businesses, the Montgomery County Treasurer’s Office, a personal client, and a youth organization, bringing the total amount of the alleged theft to $43,279.91, police said.
In late May 2023, the owner again contacted police to report fraudulent credit card purchases on his personal Mastercard totaling $8,049.11, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators said the card was used to make purchases between March 2023 and May 20, 2023 at Walmart locations in the San Antonio area as well as online purchases from Walmart, Amazon, and airline tickets from Philadelphia to Texas.
The owner said he kept the card at a location at his business and believed Jay had acquired it without his knowledge or authorization, police said. The total loss came to $51,329.02, according to the complaint.
Police said they made contact with Jay by phone on June 2, 2023, at which point they informed her of their investigation, and she indicated that she “wanted to come clean.” Jay indicated “she wanted to make everything right,” police said, but when asked about the credit card usage, she claimed she had several credit cards uploaded in her phone and inferred it had been used by mistake.
Jay stated she acted alone and “it was all her,” police said.
