Former Employee Accused of Cashing $216,117 in Fake Checks

A former employee of Palm Harbor's is accused of making and cashing $216,117 in counterfeit checks against his employer's bank account. 

On Friday, Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputies arrested James Robert Harman, 29, of 1421 Rogers St. in Clearwater on a felony grand theft charge.

Detectives are looking for a second suspect whose identity has not been released.

A spokesperson for the sheriff's office says the owner of Posh Pools called them in June saying about $300,000 was missing from the company's operating account at Bank of America.

Detectives with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Economic Crimes Unit investigated the case and found that fake checks were cashed from June of 2010 through June of 2011.

Harman was a crew supervisor at Posh Pools. He worked there for two years until he was let go in January of 2011. Investigators say Harman continued to cash the fake checks for six months after he stopped working for the company.

The sheriff's office says the second suspect also worked for Posh Pools and is being sought on a similar charge.

Investigators say both suspects were never given access to the company's bank account nor were they ever authorized to use it.

Harman was released from the Pinellas County Jail on $50,000 bond Friday afternoon.

Posh Pools is located at 31515 U.S. Highway 19 N.