A Denver municipal animal-shelter employee engaged in an intricate scam to steal $103,367 from the facility during her last three years there, investigators said Monday during the woman’s preliminary hearing.
Following the testimony, Denver County Judge Aleene Ortiz-White ordered Lucrecia Sena, 31, to stand trial on charges of theft and embezzlement.
Sena was an administrative assistant at the shelter from Sept. 4, 2001, until she was fired Jan. 26, officials said. She made $2,437 a month.
Sena’s attorney, Jonathan Willett, argued that other employees who had access to the shelter’s cash register could have taken the money.
Denver district attorney’s office investigator Keith Schooler said that among Sena’s responsibilities were a daily cash closeout and entry of dog- and cat-license data into the department’s computer system.
Investigators claimed that during a three-year period beginning in 2004 and ending in 2006, Sena opened the envelopes containing money and checks for animal licenses and took the cash, replacing it with checks from other people seeking licenses.
They alleged that she then changed the daily cash journal to cover the shift.
“Cash was removed from the deposits and replaced by the checks that were received by mail,” Schooler testified. “The checks deposited were the same as the missing cash.”
Schooler and prosecutor Joe Morales said the scheme was discovered after the shelter closed early Dec. 20 because of bad weather and was closed completely on Dec. 21 because of the snow. Another employee, who was counting money for the cash closeout, noticed that $160 that she knew was present Dec. 20 was missing a couple of days later and had been replaced by checks. The investigation and audit followed.
But Willett said that no one ever saw Sena take the money, there was no paper trail showing she ever received the money and Sena never admitted taking the money.
“This case is pasted together,” Willett said, adding the investigation is flawed.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
