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Worker is arrested after being accidentally paid $400k by employer
A Florida horse clinic mistakenly paid a receptionist with a veterinarian's checks — and now the $60,000-a-year employee stands accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yessica Arrua, 29, of Wellington, was arrested on June 27 after allegedly pocketing more than $400,000 of someone else's salary.
A police report from the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office (PBSO) obtained by the Daily Mail revealed the trouble started in early 2023, when the Palm Beach Equine Clinic's (PBEC) CFO noticed the error and contacted payroll provider Harbor America. The firm had accidentally routed a veterinarian's salary to Arrua's account.
Arrua, originally from Argentina, received the inflated pay — nearly seven times her salary — from February 2022 to January 2023, according to the report. Though she allegedly admitted to noticing the overpayment, she never reported it to her employer.
Instead, police say Arrua used the extra money at Coach, Michael Kors, restaurants, and furniture stores. Thousands were also sent through Zelle to someone labeled 'Mama Dukes'. The report also details an $80,000 purchase of a food truck for a friend of Arrua's mother, and claims she sent money to Argentina to help build a house.
When questioned, Arrua reportedly said she believed the funds were a 'bonus' for her work as a receptionist. She claimed to have heard that a previous receptionist once received one for saving the company money on supplies. Arrua had worked at the clinic for nine years and had known the company president — who eventually reported her — since she was nine years old.
The veterinarian whose salary was redirected earned $450,000 a year but reportedly did not monitor her bank deposits. She only discovered the issue when her credit cards started getting declined. After realizing the error, she confronted Arrua, who allegedly broke down and confessed.
Arrua then wrote a $200,000 cashier's check to the clinic, but claimed she couldn't return the rest because her mother had already sent $100,000 to relatives in Argentina, believing it was a 'gift from God'. When asked why she hadn't arranged a payment plan, she told police she didn't know how to approach the company president due to his anger.
