NORRISTOWN, PA - Darby Ann Ibarguen, a 46-year-old resident of Chester County entered a guilty plea and admitted to stealing $393,496.87 from her Plymouth Meeting-based employer, Apparel Business Systems. The theft occurred between September 2015 and March 2020 when Ibarguen was working in her capacity as a Controller.
Ibarguen completed many tasks in her role as Controller including payroll, accounts payable, general ledger, and account receivable duties. An internal audit uncovered the suspected crime which lead to Ibarguen's arrest. It was discovered that Ibarguen was using the stolen funds to make unauthorized payments to her personal credit cards and even her cable bill.
In all, Ibarguen wrote 21 checks with forged signatures to herself; made 92 payments on her personal credit cards; paid her cable bill; transferred funds from the company account to her personal account 95 times; increased her weekly pay rate; and made additional commission payments to herself which she was not entitled to.
Ibarguen was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail starting on April 25, 2022. Ibarguen was also ordered to pay full restitution to her former employer and to write the Judge every six months with an update on the status of the repayment. Finally, Ibarguen will be on probation for 10 years following her parole.
Apparel Business Systems is an IT software company located on Hickory Road which sells software solutions to the apparel and garment industry. Learn more about them here.
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