Midlands woman stole nearly $200K from her employer, Lexington County sheriff says
A woman who worked as a bookkeeper for a Midlands business for years was arrested for scamming the company out of nearly $200,000, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said.
Robin White Hipp was charged with breach of trust, according to an arrest warrant.
The 55-year-old Saluda County resident was arrested Thursday, the sheriff’s department said in a news release.
“Detectives opened an investigation when owners of a Leesville business contacted us with concerns about money missing from an account,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in the release. “Based on our review of the evidence, we determined Hipp stole at least $189,000 from the business.”
The business where Hipp worked was not identified by the sheriff’s department.
But during her time as the company’s bookkeeper, Hipp wrote more than 240 checks to herself over eight years, according to Koon.
An arrest warrant shows that Hipp “hid her fraudulent activity by writing another business vendor’s name and using a dollar amount that the vendor normally charges for materials instead of her name in financial ledger,” the Lexington County Chronicle reported.
Hipp’s scheme was discovered when her employer went to the bank and found out that the checks were written to the bookkeeper instead of the vendors listed in the ledger, according to the arrest warrant.
Information on what Hipp did with the money, or what she spent it on, was not available.
Hipp was arrested by Saluda County sheriff’s deputies, before Lexington County deputies took her to the Lexington County Detention Center, according to the release. Her bail was set, and Hipp was released on a personal recognizance bond, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said.
If convicted on the felony charge, Hipp faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a fine determined by the court, in addition to paying restitution, according to South Carolina law.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREThis is a breaking news story
In a breaking news situation, facts can be unclear and the situation may still be developing. The State is trying to get important information to the public as quickly and accurately as possible. This story will be updated as more information becomes available, and some information in this story may change as the facts become clearer. Refresh this page later for more updated information.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Midlands woman stole nearly $200K from her employer, Lexington County sheriff says."
