In March of 2018, Detective Elizabeth Clark from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, met with James Connors, the president of Capitol Cable Communications, Inc., who reported his business was at a loss of 1.2 million dollars due to credit card fraud perpetrated by an employee.
Connors told police that Heather Elizabeth Deabay, 42, of La Plata, ran a portion of his business from her residence, and she was not supposed to be in possession of a credit card account, let alone us it for personal expenses. Connors stated he realized the fraud when he reviewed his business’ credit card statement in February of 2018 and noticed some charges that seemed unusual.
Connors contacted Deabay, who said she didn’t know about the charges, but she would get it handled and not worry about it. Connors stated something didn’t seem right with her statement, so he requested copies of all Capital Cable Communications credit card statements and that was when he discovered Deabay had obtained company credit cards without his knowledge or permission and she was using those accounts to make personal purchases.
After reviewing the credit card accounts, Connors identified $855,651.70 in fraudulent purchases, in addition, he also identified $76,714.36 in cash advances made on the fraudulent accounts listed to Heather Deabay without his knowledge or approval. The total loss is $932,366.06. That total does not include the years 2000-2010, Connors has started reviewing those statements and has currently identified an additional $150,901.80 in 2010 and $139,963.62 in 2009. All together totaling $1,223,231.00.
When police reviewed the credit card statements they identified numerous transactions that were not normal business practices belonging to Capitol Cable Communications.
Below are some of the purchases listed:
- Self-Storage Plus
- Amazon
- SMECO
- QVC
- Town of La Plata
- Comcast of Anne Arundel
- Sirius Radio
- The Playground, Atlantic City, New Jersey
- The Water Club Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey
- Winegardner Buick, GMC
- Avis Rent-A-Car
- Ashley Home Store
- Value City Furniture
- Grace Lutheran School Enrollment
- Spirit Airlines (airfare to Florida)
- Diamond Limousines
- MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
- Great Wolf Lodge, Williamsburg, VA
- Hotel Hershey, PA
- Jet Blue Airline to Salt Lake City, Utah
On March 20, 2018, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office executed a search and seizure warrant, at Deabay’s house in La Plata.
Deabay told police she worked as an administrative assistant for Capital Cable, and was allowed to purchase supplies for her office, which were paid for by Capital Cable. Deabay stated she did have a company credit card in her name, but she did not have possession of company credit cards which were issued to other employees. She stated she could make some purchases with the company credit card, but she did agree that some of the purchases were not approved, for example the ones made at Victoria Secret. Deabay confirmed she cancelled the credit card issued in her name because she wanted a clean break from Jim Connors who she believed was controlling her.
A criminal summons was issued on September 22,2018 charging Deabay with credit card fraud and theft scheme.
Deabay has a preliminary hearing in Charles County District Court scheduled on October 29, 2018.
