The owner of a popular restaurant in DeWitt is under fire after she overcharged customers’ credit cards and stopped credit card companies from getting the money back.
The fraud was reported by a customer and upon investigation a pattern was found.
According to Syracuse.com, the owner, Sharon McCarthy, 65, of DeWitt was arrested Friday and charged with second degree grand larceny, four counts of third degree grand larceny, fourth degree grand larceny, and two counts of first degree scheme to defraud.
Over $100,000 of stolen funds have been found but police believe there is more and customers who are unaware.
One customer reached out to Syracuse.com and explained that she ordered food for her mother’s funeral reception with 32 people.
Two days before the reception $3,187 was charged to the customers card, but then two more charges over the next few days were for $2,719 and $2,265 respectively.
After contacting McCarthy the customer was told the first two were for food and drinks but the third charge would be looked into. A tampered with itemized bill was provided and McCarthy eventually admitted the third charge was a mistake.
The owner often ignored inquiries from customers who noticed the overcharges, forcing them to go through their credit card company.
McCarthy created various bank accounts and would move money around so when credit card companies tried to refund customers, the claims were denied for insufficient funds.
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