Pink Collar Theft From NC Fire Department

The treasurer of a volunteer fire department in North Carolina has been charged with three counts on embezzlement. Linda Gibson, 72, stands accused to stealing $12,000 from the Stella Volunteer Fire Department.

Gibson reportedly used the department’s ATM cards to collect cash and pay personal bills between April 2014 and September 2016. She also submitted altered and fake invoices to cover up checks she had written, endorsed, and cashed. Prior to her arrest, she had been the department’s treasurer for the past 20 years.

More on the story.

Two weeks ago I did a podcast with Kelly Paxton on the issue of Pink Collar Theft. The amount of thievery from women is startling and in many respects hard to comprehend. However, as this case shows: the problem is real. My data suggests that roughly 1 in 3 cases of theft in the volunteer fire service is Pink Collar Theft.

Here is the link to the podcast.