CLEARFIELD – A former shift manager accused of stealing from Burger King and McDonald’s of Clearfield waived the charges in both cases Wednesday during centralized court at the Clearfield County Jail.
Jennifer Lynn Mann, 30, of West Decatur has been charged with receiving stolen property, theft by deception and theft by unlawful taking in one case and receiving stolen property and theft by unlawful taking in a second case. Bail has been set at $10,000 unsecured for each case.
According to the affidavit of probable cause in the first case, on April 6 Lawrence Township police received a report from Burger King for a possible internal theft. The staff advised of a shift manager, identified as Mann, who they suspected of stealing money from the nightly deposit.
According to restaurant officials with Burger King, revenue records were reviewed for various days and shifts. Officials found a pattern of large voids, especially during Mann’s shifts, for fictitious and large orders. Mann allegedly voided a total of $1,348.79 between Feb. 27 and April 5.
Additionally, officials found Mann used a “cents off” button. She collected the total amount of cash for a customer’s order, entered in amounts of “cents off” to discount it and took the difference. Records showed that Mann allegedly used the “cents off” button to steal a total of $1,044.34.
Restaurant officials then reviewed surveillance video for Mann’s shifts. On April 3 and again April 5, Mann was observed placing cash on the manager’s desk after counting her cashier drawers. She was then observed placing it into her shirt pocket.
Mann was also observed sitting in the manager’s office counting her shift’s drawers. While doing this, she was observed taking cash and placing it under a couple envelopes beside the fax machine. When she was done she grabbed the money, folded it and placed it in her shirt pocket.
During an interview with police, Mann denied any knowledge of a theft at Burger King. She denied having stolen money from any restaurant where she’d served as a manager. Mann claimed that she occasionally would place money in her shirt pocket for deposit later in the evening but never took any.
When police presented Mann with evidence and surveillance video she admitted to taking some money. However, she wouldn’t indicate how much she’d taken over a timeframe. When presented with the total amounts, she told police there wasn’t any way she was responsible for all of it.
Mann told police she would admit to taking some money – approximately $500 – but not the full amount calculated in the restaurant records. She requested to review the financial statements but was denied by police.
Mann had also worked for McDonald’s, located on the Clearfield-Shawville Highway, Clearfield, as a shift manager prior to her hiring at Burger King. Restaurant officials at Burger King contacted those at McDonald’s and advised them Mann had made approximately two months of refunds, totaling $2,393.13 in fraudulent orders.
Upon investigation restaurant officials at McDonald’s found Mann had allegedly initiated many cash refunds similar to those she later made at Burger King. From Jan. 21-28, she had refunded $547.65 in cash. After her shift Jan. 29, Mann was supposed to make a deposit of $1,226.34 in the bank, but it allegedly never made it there
When a McDonald’s official contacted Mann about the missing deposit she didn’t respond. Jan. 29 was the last day that Mann showed up to her scheduled shifts at McDonald’s, according to the affidavit.
When police questioned Mann about the thefts at McDonald’s, she said multiple people could have taken the money. However, when shown the schedule of shifts, she would not comment.
The methods in which the money was taken from Burger King matched that at McDonald’s. During both incidents, Mann was the on duty shift manager with knowledge of how to complete refunds, police stated in the affidavit.
Mann was presented with a voluntary statement form. However, after some time, Mann requested an attorney without providing any statement; she then left the township police station.