As if it were a movie, Yessica Arrua spent a year receiving a salary that wasn’t hers and now has to face the fact that she didn’t report it earlier. The women received seven times her normal monthly salary due to a payroll error that went unnoticed for months. Now, Arrua faces charges of grand theft and money laundering. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
Arrua, was living like a high-earning veterinarian despite working as a receptionist at a Florida horse clinic. The woman, a nine-year clinic employee who even knew the company’s president, was arrested on June 29 and is now in the Palm Beach County Detention. The woman allegedly pocketed more than $400,000 of another employee’s salary between February 2022 and January 2023.
According to the information available, Arrua decided, rather than informing the outsourced human resources department, to remain silent and take full advantage of the unexpected pay increase. The report details purchases at high-end retailers like Coach and Michael Kors, purchases at restaurants and furniture stores, and thousands of dollars sent via Zelle to someone listed as “Mama Dukes.” Investigators also discovered that $80,000 went toward buying a food truck for a friend of her mother’s. Arrua also admitted to sending additional funds to Argentina to help build a house.
Not only is Arrua facing legal action, but so is the third-party company that managed the clinic’s payments. The police report notes that the investigating officer identified “several errors attributed to the third-party company,” but efforts to clarify the error failed when authorities were unable to contact current representatives of Harbor America. When they finally did, police discovered that those with direct knowledge of the payroll mishap no longer worked for the company.
What could have been a human error has become a legal issue that could completely change the path of Yessica Arrua, the main person involved in this entire scheme. While it may seem like good news to see a large amount of money deposited into your account, taking advantage of an administrative error of this nature can have serious consequences, as we see in this case.
One of the most curious aspects of the case is how the error went unnoticed. It wasn’t until the financial director of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic discovered it and reported it directly to the payroll provider, Harbor America, as previously mentioned. According to the information available, the veterinarian, who supposedly earned $400,000 a year, even noticed when her cards were being rejected when paying at establishments.
It is advisable that if you detect an overpayment on your account, you do not spend anything that is not your responsibility. The best course of action in these cases is to contact the company immediately and wait for a response. Otherwise, you could be liable for every dollar you spend, whether or not you intended to keep it. And as this case demonstrates, ignorance of the law does not mean you should not comply with it.
Ultimately, all those involved in this error, Harbor America on the one hand and Yessica Arrua on the other, must be held accountable.
