Ex-Accounting Firm Employee Arrested For Allegedly Inflating Her Hours

Posted on by Going Concern News Desk
Closeup of hand filling in weekly timesheet

Got a story out of Pennsylvania today that will blow the socks off anyone who’s in the habit of eating rather than inflating their hours (so, lots of you).

Detectives in the county of Westmoreland have filed misdemeanor theft by deception charges against a woman who is accused of falsifying her timesheets at a local accounting firm.

Get a load of this story from Crimewatch:

The victim hired a private surveillance company to verify when the former employee was arriving and leaving work and supplied time sheets to detectives for several pay periods in 2024. Detectives determined the former employee, Kelly Walt, reported more than 18 hours of time she never worked at an overtime pay rate. In total, she billed more than $900 to the accounting business of time she claimed she worked but it was determined to be false.

Do you guys think the private surveillance company cost more than $900? Had to, right?

On top of this, it sounds like she tried to keep the firm-issued laptop, though the DA says only “a piece of equipment belonging to the company.” Perhaps a red stapler.

We did find the accused on LinkedIn, where it says she worked as an accountant at the firm. As the firm wasn’t named in the report, we won’t do so either. It’s not difficult to find based on the info provided by the DA.

Keep you posted if this goes anywhere.

Related Posts

Vault Accounting 50: #41 – #50 (2011)

Wrapping up our series of posts on the Vault Accounting 50, we roll out the final ten.

And as always, if you’ve got anything newsworthy on these firms, get in touch with us at tips@goingconcern.com:

41. Marks Paneth & Shron LLP – New York, NY
42. Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP – New York, NY
43. Margolin, Winer & Evens LLP – Garden City, NY
44. Stonefield Josephson, Inc. – Los Angeles, CA
45. Blackman Kallick – Chicago, IL
46. Aronson & Company – Rockville, MD
47. Schneider Downs & Co., Inc. – Pittsburgh, PA
48. Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc. – San Francisco, CA
4 Drury & Company, L.L.C. – Bethesda, MD
50. Frank Rimerman & Co. LLP – Palo Alto, CA


Vault’s buzz with the occasional commentary from us:

Marks Paneth & Shron LLP – “Good advertisements on LIRR”; “Slow advancement” [wonder if the ads were discussed with WeiserMazars?]

Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP – “No red tape”—“nimble enough to act on good ideas and make things happen”; “Too many mergers—a consolidation of small firms”

Margolin, Winer & Evens LLP – “[H]as nearly 200 employees in its offices in New York City and Long Island. The firm was founded in 1946, but the bulk of its growth came in the recent years—headcount almost doubled between 2001 and 2006.”

Stonefield Josephson, Inc. – “Founded in 1975, the California-based firm serves U.S. and international clients from offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, East Bay, Silicon Valley and Hong Kong.” [Recently joining team Marcum.]

Blackman Kallick – “Fun, young, energetic”; “Managers get mixed reviews” [And a decent Twitter feed that doesn’t overdue the hashtags, like some firms we know.]

Aronson & Company – “Reznick rival”; “Burns out employees” [Pretty good nonprofit blog.]

Schneider Downs & Co., Inc. – “Quality people (people who used to work there are easy to work with)”; “Unknown”

Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc. – Good size for the area but require tax and audit diversity”; “A copy of Armanino McKenna”

Watkins, Meegan, Drury & Company, L.L.C. – “Hitting the accounting scene in 1975, Watkins, Meegan, Drury & Co. has developed from an accounting firm with just three CPAs to one with three offices in Bethesda, Md.; Tysons Corner, Va.; and Annapolis, Md.”

Frank Rimerman & Co. LLP – “California’s Frank, Rimerman + Co. was founded in 1949 by a pair of Franks: Frank Rimerman and Robert Frank. When Frank Rimerman retired, his son Thomas Rimerman took over as the firm’s managing partner. Tom Rimerman is also known for his trailblazing stint as chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; as head of the AICPA, Rimerman outlined a bold agenda to revamp financial reporting practices, passed a Uniform Accountancy Act, created a non-CPA affiliate membership within the AICPA and established federal financial management reforms.”

Earlier Posts on the Vault Accounting 50:
Vault’s New Accounting 50 Ranking Has Plenty of Surprises
Vault Accounting 50 Rankings: Digging Into The Top 10

6 thoughts on “Ex-Accounting Firm Employee Arrested For Allegedly Inflating Her Hours”

  1. I feel about this the same way I feel about bogus insurance claims. I’ll agree with throwing people in jail when we start to throw the bosses in jail for the opposite behavior.

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  4. I’ve known Kelly for over 20 years. Stealing time..a joke! At times she would text me at 5 am with questions, sometimes 6-7 at night. I ask her “are you still at work? Yes. I couldn’t count how many times I told her “go home”
    After Sam White bought RJ Williams, she was the only original employee left. One of Sam Whites employees disliked Kelly and it was well known. If he had proof she was steeling time in 2024 why not fire her then? Instead he’s been vindictive by dragging her name through the mud. Claimed she stole equipment which was a hard drive they were required to take home in vase of a fire. She was told to have no contact with any employees and was not allowed on the premises. Many of her clients have followed her to her new firm. I intend to do the same.

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    1. Stealing time is not a joke. It’s a serious accusation and Kelly needs to take this seriously.

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