Coral Springs payroll manager stole $1.5M from Miami doctor’s office, cops say

A Coral Springs woman who worked at a Miami doctor’s office as a payroll manager is accused of stealing $1.5 million by overpaying herself and spending company funds on personal expenses.

Detectives with the Miami Police department arrested 40-year-old Rachel Poor at her Coral Springs home on May 21 on charges of organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and credit card fraud, records show.

Her arrest comes nearly two years after the orthopedic surgeon in charge of Miami Back & Neck Specialists reported to police that Poor, his former payroll manager, had defrauded the business for years, according to an arrest affidavit.

The scheme came to light when the new payroll manager was conducting an internal audit and learned that Poor had been inflating her salary, giving herself bonuses and charging unauthorized purchases to the company credit card, police said.

In the payroll system, Poor set herself up as the company owner, giving her unfettered access to adjust salaries, authorize payments and issue bonuses, according to detectives.

From September 2021 to January 2024, Poor bumped up her biweekly salary from $2,000 to $3,720, a jump from $52,000 a year to $96,720, records show.

Investigators said she also gave herself unauthorized bonuses every payroll cycle, ranging from $1,000 to as high as $25,000. Her self-authorized raises and bonuses cost the company nearly $1.1 million, according to records.

In addition to the payroll mismanagement, Poor is also accused of spending $411,737 on the company credit card for personal reasons that “fell entirely outside the scope of her employment duties,” the affidavit says.

She was booked in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center but has bonded out.