During the span of three years, nearly $200,000 was taken from a Greenwood real estate business, and the company’s accountant has been charged in the theft.
David M. Hilt, 52, of 5829 S. Franklin Road, Indianapolis, was charged with felony counts of theft and corrupt business influence.
Last year, the owner of Statewide Realty, located at 1644 Fry Road, contacted police after he noticed business profits and commissions were down and began looking through the company accounts. He found that deposits to the company’s accounts did not match records in the accounting software, according to the Greenwood Police Department.
Police began an investigation into the finances of the company, where Hilt had worked as an accountant since 2010. Hilt and the owner had access to the accounting information, and Hilt also was responsible for collecting rent from 12 rental properties the business owned, according to the report.
Hilt did not return calls Wednesday.
Investigators spoke with the tenants in the rental properties, who said Hilt would often ask them to pay their rent directly to him, and in some cases Hilt would come to the property to collect the rent each month. For each property, the company’s records show that either little or no money was deposited into the business’ accounts from those rent payments, the report said.
Over the years, Hilt had been given anywhere from $1,600 to more than $34,000 in rent from those tenants, the report said.
In total, investigators found Hilt had collected more than $175,000 in rent payments that were not deposited into the business’ accounts, the report said.
The business owner also looked at files on Hilt’s computer and found that Hilt’s credit card payments were made with money from the business, the report said.
Investigators found Hilt had used the company’s checking account to make more than $22,000 in payments on his personal credit card, the report said.
Hilt did not return phone calls to investigators. He was arrested this week and held at the Johnson County jail on $110,000 bond.
