A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Lori Lamb, of Boardman on June 30th for theft. She's accused of stealing at least $175,000 from Morris Drain Service, a Youngstown family-owned business. The company said she was once a secretary at the company which opened its doors in 1947.
"When the business carries your name you tend to work a little bit harder to make the job right," said Bob Morris, whose father Richard Morris started the business.
Bob said he, his brother and father knew something was wrong when they noticed their workload wasn't matching the company's bank accounts.
"Figures weren't adding up," said Ron Morris, Richard's other son. "We were working from morning to night and there was never any money in the account. And it just came to the point that something wasn't right."
The Morris family said evidence points to Lamb taking money from business accounts for herself without permission. They say she took at least $175,000 between January 2008 and February 2011.
"We're relieved that we have stopped the bleeding," said Richard Morris. "We weren't able to get ahead at all, and we didn't understand why."
The Morris' say Lamb's stealing operation was elaborate. They said one way she took money was by forging checks.
"The check stubs did not match the checks," Ron Morris said. "It would say one thing on our stubs and her name was on the check."
The company's owners said Lamb's actions caused employees to take pay cuts. They said it also caused workers to lose out on overtime pay. The family said they're looking forward to future court proceedings.
Lamb is expected to be in court next week.
