Payroll is one of the most vital functions of any organization, so when employees at Agape Animal Rescue started noticing irregularities in their paychecks and bank accounts, they quickly informed Executive Director Tanya Willis.
She says money continued to drain out of the animal rescue employees’ personal accounts — via paycheck reversals — even after the company notified its payroll provider, MyPayrollHR, of the problem, writes Tech Target News Writer Patrick Thibodeau.
“Most of our employees are still sitting with negative overdrafts in their accounts,” Willis said. One employee was told by a bank that it would be 45 to 60 days before she was made whole, she said.
Not long after Willis spoke with MyPayrollHR, the Clifton Park, N.Y.-based firm, whose CEO is Michael T. Mann — said it was closing “due to unforeseen circumstances”:
“…[W]e are unable to process any further payroll transactions,” according to an internal statement to customers. “Please find alternate methods for processing your payrolls. For any payroll batches submitted during this week, including any payroll reversals from last week, please be prepared to find an alternative method to pay employees. We are working to release any funds that are in transit as a result of this matter.”
When it closed, the firm, had some 4,000 customers, mostly SMB-sized businesses, and total payroll involved was reportedly about $26 million.
With the total scope of victims and missing money (some estimate it at $35 million) currently unknown, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced separate investigations. “We will not allow these bad actors to take money away from the hard-working people in this state,” Cuomo said.
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