He is charged with 10 counts of theft
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 31, 2019– An Orange Walk man, Amando Olivera, who was working as an accountant in Belize City at the Riverside Tavern Limited, a subsidiary of Bowen and Bowen, appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court last week to answer to charges of theft.
Police charged Olivera, 43, with 10 counts of theft after police investigated a complaint from Natalie Grange, a process manager from Bowen and Bowen. The report made against Olivera is that he allegedly under-deposited funds in the company’s Heritage Bank account that resulted in a shortfall of almost $50,000, between the period June and August 2019.
Olivera appeared in court with his attorney, Marcel Cardona, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was released on bail and is due back in court in November.
Grange reported to police that she was alerted by the Bowen and Bowen accounts department that there were discrepancies with monies that were deposited on behalf of Riverside Tavern. An audit was conducted by the company and it revealed that there were discrepancies with 10 deposits that were made on behalf of the Riverside Tavern to the Heritage Bank account and together these discrepancies totaled $48,125.53 Belize currency.
Bowen and Bowen, according to court documents, sent someone to inquire from Olivera what happened to the missing monies, but when the person reached Riverside Tavern, located at the corner of Mapp Street, he had already left and only a resignation letter was found on his desk.
The alleged theft, according to the court documents, began on June 21, 2019, when a deposit slip for $8,951.46 was not accounted for. Similarly, on June 27, 2019, a deposit slip with $6,625.25 and a deposit slip dated 10th July , 2019 for $4,965.55 were not accounted for, and the monies were never deposited in the Bowen and Bowen account.
In addition, Bowen and Bowen is alleging that 7 deposit slips revealed a shortage of monies that were not completely deposited.
Court documents revealed that a deposit slip dated July 18, 2019 shows that $109 was deposited from a total of $3,142.27, leaving a shortfall of $3,333.27.
A deposit slip dated July 26, 2019 shows that $3,104.78 was deposited out of a total of $8,104.78, leaving a shortfall of $5,500.
The remaining 5 deposits receipts show a similar pattern of deposits and shortfalls which made up the amount of missing monies.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) was alerted with information about the missing monies and the shortfall in deposits.
Police also put out a wanted poster for Olivera, and he was arrested and charged with the 10 counts of theft.