LONGVIEW, Wash. -- An employee of Cowlitz CU was charged last week with stealing $120,000 out of the vault, to fuel an expensive gambling habit.
Roxane Ramey, 55, and her husband are believed to have gambled the money away at the Lucky Eagle Casino. The couple racked up nearly $112,000 in gambling losses at the casino between July 2010 and this month, according to police. The husband was not charged.
Police say the Rameys had "Elite" club cards at the casino, which tracked their winnings and losses. The data showed that Roxane Ramey lost more than $67,000 and her husband lost nearly $45,000.
Ramey allegedly stole the money between July 1, 2010, and last Dec. 2, and then falsified records to hide the missing cash.
Credit union officials discovered the money was missing in early December and hired an accountant to conduct a forensic audit, which confirmed that $120,000 had disappeared from the vault, police said.
Records kept by Ramey, however, showed that the money was still there, police said. Since July 2010, Ramey had been allowed to balance the vault's cash on her own at the close of each business day, and she was the only employee with a key to the vault's cash drawers.
Police said Ramey canceled several vacations and never missed a day of work to maintain control of the vault's accounts and keep her scheme from being exposed. The money was found to be missing after another employee began filling in as Ramey prepared to go on vacation.
Investigators reviewed Ramey's personal bank account records, which showed more than $59,000 in cash had been deposited into her U.S. Bank account between July 2010 and this month. In addition, police said, she made "many" ATM withdrawals from the Lucky Eagle Casino over the same period.
