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Crime & Safety

Berks County Woman Admits to Stealing $7,000 from Amish Marketplace

Carole Denise McBee, 50, of Berks County admitted to stealing more than $7,000 in deposit payments from Amish Marketplace in Lower Nazareth Township.

An apparent employee of a Lower Nazareth company that builds and sells sheds has admitted to stealing more than $7,000 in deposit payments for the backyard structures, court records say.

The records do not specifically say the suspect, Carole Denise McBee, 50, is an employee of Amish Marketplace, 594 Nazareth Pike (Route 191).

But a Colonial Regional detective describes how he went to the business Tuesday (Jan. 15) after finding out about the missing money and asked McBee, who lives in the Berks County community of Mohrsville, to accompany him to police headquarters.

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The detective -- Det. Sgt. Michael S. Melinsky -- says in a criminal complaint that McBee took deposit payments on three occasions in 2012:

  • Sept. 15 … $2,491
  • Nov. 26 … $3,281.40
  • Dec. 15 … $1,400.

The total is $7,172.40.

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Melinsky also writes that Colonial Regional Officer Gary Young took a theft report from the business’ co-owner, who said an audit showed deposit payments were missing for the Sept. 15 and Nov. 26 transactions.

Melinsky said he went to the business Tuesday and drove McBee to police headquarters, where she admitted not only to the Sept. 15 and Nov. 26 thefts, but with taking deposit payments of $400 and $1,000 on Dec. 15.

McBee was charged with theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property -- both level-three felonies. She was arraigned Tuesday by District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Online court records show that McBee faced previous charges in several Berks County cases. She pleaded guilty in 2009 to theft by deception and pleaded guilty in 1992 to drug charges and a charge of promoting prostitution.

Amish Marketplace builds and sells sheds and other backyard structures, according to its website. It also has operations in Reading and the Philadelphia suburb of Malvern.

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