Cast Member Accused Of Stealing $34,000 From Disney Charged With Two Misdemeanors
According to a piece appearing in the Orlando Sentinel, Disney World is accusing a Magic Kingdom cast member of stealing over $34,000 over two years from the company. However, the employee in question wasn’t charged with a felony or sentenced to jail time according to the Sheriff’s report.
The 53 year old woman was fired from her job at the Magic Kingdom in May of 2019. The Orange County Sheriff’s office then conducted an investigation for grand theft and the case was ultimate sent to Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office.
Photo: Matt Stroshane
In the end, the employee was charged with two misdemeanors and plead “no-contest.” As a result she was placed on 12 months probation, was sentenced to community service, received a $273 fine and was required to attend a seminar on impulse control. She has also been banned from Walt Disney World.
The woman, cannot be identified due to the charges. However, according to the report in the Sentinel, Disney told deputies that the woman stole $33,988 from the company between January 2017 through May 2019. At that time she was working at a ticket booth at Magic Kingdom’s Ticket and Transportation Center.
According to the Sheriff’s report, the cast member would sell MagicBands, activate the bands, collect cash from the guests and then instead of ringing the bands up and placing the money in the til would pocket the funds. The cast member had apparently been employed by Disney since 1990.
Certain red flags alerted Disney to the crime including lower cash sales and the number of MagicBands activating not matching up with what was in the system. In 2018 alone, it is estimated that she sold 1965 MagicBands but activated 3272 for guests visiting the parks.
Disney fraud investigators that pretended to be guests helped get to the route of the problem and discover the fraud. When confronted by Disney, the cast member admitted to stealing almost $40,000 and said that she had been using this method since 2017. She was let go in May of 2019.
Her misdemeanor theft charges were a direct result of the cash she was accused of pocketing from the two MagicBands she sold to investigators.
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Source: Orlando Sentinel
