Plum woman charged with embezzling $320K from insurance firm where she worked

Jul. 24--A woman who worked as an accounting supervisor for a Forest Hills insurance company has been charged with stealing nearly $320,000 to pay for cruises, airline tickets, hotels and merchandise from Louis Vuitton, Coach, Gucci and Tiffany, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.

Sharon J. Mink, 43, of Briarwood Lane in Plum surrendered to detectives Tuesday and was released on a non-monetary bond. She faces a Sept. 4 preliminary hearing on nine counts of forgery and one count each of theft and receiving stolen property.

Mink was hired as an accountant in 2004 at Research Underwriters in Forest Hills, which provides insurance services for transportation companies, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. Mink became the company's controller in late 2007 and was responsible for accounting, payroll, 401k accounts and paying bills.

Following Mink's resignation in February 2017, company officials reviewed financial records and found that between December 2013 and March 2017, 59 checks totaling more than $311,000 allegedly were forged by Mink to pay for purchases she made. The financial review also found more than $8,000 in fraudulent checks Mink allegedly used to make payments on her credit card.

Investigators say Mink tried to hide the thefts by listing legitimate vendors when the payments were entered in the company's s accounting management software.

Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tony at 724-772-6368, [email protected] or via Twitter .

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