FL Woman Forged Checks, Stole $710K From Employer: Pinellas Sheriff

CLEARWATER, FL — A Clearwater woman faces charges after stealing more than $700,000 from her employer over the last seven years.

Monika Hladik, 41, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of scheme to defraud, according to a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office news release.

The investigation began in December 2022 after the president of Inspecs USA, an eyewear manufacturing company in Palm Harbor, filed a complaint with the agency.

He told deputies that Hladik, Inspecs’ managerial accountant who had been with the company for 12 years, had been writing checks from the business to herself and forging his signature.

In her role, she was responsible for writing company checks and bringing them to the president for his signature, the sheriff’s office said. She was never authorized to write or sign checks to herself.

Between 2016 and 2022, Hladik wrote 232 checks totaling $710,531 to herself and deposited them into her Wells Fargo bank account.

Detectives say she also manipulated QuickBooks for the company to cover up the ongoing theft for several years.