Former office manager suspected of stealing $800K from Minnesota dental practice

A former office manager at a Minnesota dental practice is accused of stealing as much as $800,000 from her employer for trips, concerts, her children's school fees and other things, the Star Tribune reports.

Shirley Dunn, 45, was charged with seven counts of felony theft by swindle. She is accused of stealing about $395,000 from Edina, Minn.-based York Dental from 2015 until she was fired in 2018. Police suspect Ms. Dunn began stealing before 2015 and took somewhere near $800,000 total, according to an affidavit cited by the Star Tribune.

The affidavit pointed to suspicious purchases Ms. Dunn made dating back to 2012 that police linked to her Facebook posts, including trips to Arizona and Mexico, a limo ride for three girls to a Justin Bieber concert and attendance at a Luke Bryan concert. The affidavit also revealed $16,000 spent on beauty supplies, about $2,600 for iTunes and roughly $26,000 on clothing.

Ms. Dunn was responsible for much of York Dental's accounting. One of the practice owners discovered Ms. Dunn had been using a business credit card for personal use, which she admitted to doing, and she was fired in October 2018. "Most of the cash received by the practice had not been deposited," and "the dental practice sustained a significant loss," the charges read.

Ms. Dunn has a court appearance set for Aug. 11. She says she was unaware that charges were filed and declined to comment, according to the Star Tribune.

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