LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)— An audit of a Lancaster County Wendy’s found that a former general manager allegedly stole almost $20,000 from the eatery by creating a fake employee.
According to the charging documents, Linda Johnson allegedly clocked in and out as a “ghost employee” at the Manheim Township Wendy’s from July 2021 to April 2022 and then had the paychecks go to her bank account.
Paychecks from the fake employee showed police that $19,898.15 was allegedly stolen by Johnson, who also created 128 shifts for the “worker.” Detectives learned later that Johnson would be the only one who could create the shifts, police said.
An insurance company also reported that they lost more than $15,000 from the theft, police noted in the documents.
When other managers were questioned about the “worker,” police said some could not remember working with them, while one reported that they met him once and that Johnson did provide a timecard for the employee but never worked with him.
Johnson admitted to police during a video call in April that she created the employee and had the paychecks set up to go into her Cashapp account, the charging documents show.
Johnson faces a felony charge of theft by deception.
