West Boca McDonald’s manager accused of theft

CRA News Service

The general manager of a West Boca McDonald’s was arrested and charged after she was accused of stealing nearly $5,000 from secured deposits.

Authorities arrested Nadia Abi-Roud Hende, 36, of Coconut Creek, on Jan. 6 on charges of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud. She was released hours later on $9,000 bail.

Deputies were called to the restaurant at State Road 7 and Glades Road on Dec. 13 after its director of operations reported that a deposit of $4,887.50 was unaccounted for, according to the arrest report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The deposit was supposed to have been made Dec. 5. However, records from Garda, the company scheduled to collect the deposit, showed that no pickup was made that day.

Video surveillance showed that Abi-Roud Hende had access to the deposit on that date, the deputy wrote.

The investigation revealed that she routinely took unknown amounts of money from secured deposits and repaid those amounts later. By restoring the money, it would appear the money she had taken was never missing, The investigator said Abi-Roud Hende made “rolling deposits,” or took unknown portions of deposits and then added money to future deposits to make it appear as if money wasn’t missing, according to the report.

The rolling deposits typically were held for one to three weeks. After the deposits were finally made, the amounts would then match McDonald’s internal reports.

A McDonald’s executive told a sheriff’s detective that the money is usually secured in a safe, then picked up by Garda, an armored truck service.

But the detective talked with a Garda representative who said there was no pickup made on Dec. 5. As of Jan. 6, that money was still missing. Security footage shows Abi-Roud Hende as the only general manager dealing with the deposit, according to the report.