Restaurant Worker Arrested For Alleged Fake Tips Fraud Worth Thousands Of Dollars

A restaurant worker in North Carolina was accused of tipping herself thousands of dollars using credit cards.

Leah Marie Wehrmann, 25, who worked at Juicy Lucy's Burger Bar and Grill in Ashville, faced 14 felony counts of obtaining property under false pretense. According to the police, she obtained $3,734.28, charging excessive tips to 14 separate credit cards after making purchases from the restaurant. The payments, in the form of tips, ranged from $59 to more than $500.

Asheville Police Department spokeswoman Christina Hallingse told USA Today-affiliated Citizen Times that Wehrmann was "using prepaid Visa cards that she was purchasing with her own money and putting extravagant tips on." Although an investigation into the case was continuing, preliminary reports suggested that there were no evidence of her defrauding any customers.

Nevertheless, investigators believed that the suspect was aware of the fact that the credit cards didn't have the amount to cover the tips. The time when the alleged fraudulent tips were charged was not explicitly mentioned in the arrest warrant served by the police. Also, the warrant described Wehrmann as “an unemployed service industry worker.”

Although she was arrested last week, news of her arrest was reported Monday. Representatives from Juicy Lucy's Burger Bar and Grill have not commented on the matter.

Wehrmann appeared before the judge Monday. She was released on a $50,000 bond.

In March, a former construction company worker in Virginia was accused of embezzling more than $93,000 from her the-then employer to fund her wedding and buttocks lift surgery. The police launched an investigation on Vanessa Cline, 32, who used to work as a bookkeeper for the company No Limits Construction, after learning that she had allegedly made “numerous unauthorized personal purchases using the company credit card."

"The [owner of No Limits Construction] told the detective that he had been contacted by his credit card company informing him that one of his accounts was going to be closed due to lack of payment," Public Information Officer Amanda Vicinanzo said.