Fort Smith Police Sgt. Jarrard Copeland said Tuesday that the Fort Smith Police Department was contacted on Friday by authorities from Beverly Enterprises, now known an BEI, about an internal embezzlement investigation they had been conducting since April about one of their employees, Angela Marie Daws.
The Fort Smith Police Department opened a criminal investigation Tuesday and Daws was arrested.
Copeland said Daws has worked at the company since May 1995. Her job title was contract payment coordinator, and her responsibilities included making sure 65 different vendors were paid.
The company started its internal investigation into repeated unexplained absences by Daws. During the investigation, a call was made to BEI by one of the vendors inquiring about two overdue paychecks. Copeland said it was soon learned that the checks had been deposited into Daws' personal bank account. Further investigation revealed six additional checks, totaling $58,000, that were supposed to be paid to vendors, but were instead deposited into Daws' personal account.
Daws was booked into the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center. Copeland said Daws has been previously arrested for various charges, including possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
