Former BIOMEDS Accountant Charged in $18,000 Theft Scheme

A former employee of BIOMEDS Limited has been formally arrested and charged after an internal audit uncovered more than eighteen thousand dollars in missing company funds.  According to police, a manager of BIOMEDS Limited visited the Belmopan Crimes Investigation Branch on July 10, to report suspected theft linked to a former junior accountant, Mitzellie Sujellie Cruz.  She explained that Cruz was hired on May 6, 2024, but was terminated on June 30 this year, due to persistent poor performance. It was after her departure that the company accountant conducted a routine audit and detected irregularities amounting to BZ$18,322.50 unaccounted for.  Investigators learned that Cruz reportedly received cash payments from two company drivers, who were assigned to collect payments from clients during deliveries. In other cases, clients paid directly at the BIOMEDS office and Cruz issued receipts. However, despite receiving the funds, no bank deposits were made for the month of June, and several cash receipts were later voided in the company’s ISC system.  Compounding the concern, all green copies of the company’s triplicate receipt books, used for reconciliation and deposit verification, were missing. The pink carbon copies, however, remained intact and confirmed that the cash had been received. Earlier today, the 29-year-old Mitzellie Cruz, of Belmopan, surrendered herself to the Police.  An interview and a caution statement were reportedly conducted in the presence of a Justice of the Peace.  She was later charged with 14 counts of theft.