PORT ORANGE -- It was a scheme that had Port Orange officials baffled. An employee was accused of depositing utility payments from customers over an unspecified period of time into her own personal checking account, but she wrote 278 personal checks to the city for $240,539.99, and so the city recovered all of its money.
Why the money was taken in the first place and returned has been a mystery.
Lois Weiss, 37, of Port Orange, was fired from her job with the city in May, and on Dec. 10, she pleaded no contest to felony grand theft. Because she has no criminal record, adjudication of guilt was withheld by the court. She also paid $10,947 in court fees.