A Port St. Lucie woman finds herself tangled in a web of accusation, ostensibly having played a long game at her employer's expense. Kelly Marie McKisset, 46, faces charges of organized fraud and grand theft after investigators unearthed a spree of unauthorized personal purchases made with company credit cards. An intricate scam, it appears, was concealed behind the mundane tasks of an administrator for Bev Smith Kia and Toyota, a local car dealership.
Spanning from November 2018 to January 2025, McKisset's alleged deft hand in deceit went undetected as she balanced the books and made business purchases for the dealership. As reported by CBS12, FDLE agents discovered that over five years, multiple company cards were pilfered for $75,000 worth of Visa gift cards and a slew of tangible spoils, including home goods and electronics. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's (FDLE) bust yielded over 100 items deemed stolen, upon searching McKisset's dwelling on April 10.
While McKisset's role as the accounts payable and receivable administrator did indeed include making daily-buying decisions and managing cash flows for Bev Smith, it indeed seems she took liberally from her employer. According to TCPalm, investigators, after being tipped off by Fort Pierce Police, connected the dots back to McKisset, who stayed on per diem to train her replacement until her discharge in January, after stepping down in October 2024.
Delving into financial records, the chief financial officer of Bev Smith relayed a pattern of cunning adjustments by McKisset, "to conceal the fraudulent purchase." She allegedly used Bev Smith credit cards to purchase over $9,500 in cruise line gift cards, among other items in 2024 alone, and had most items shipped to her residence. The CFO uncovered that McKisset, in one instance, combined several purchases to "make a single general ledger entry against an accrued account or an expense account, so that the statements for the month would balance out," according to TCPalm.
Released on a $75,000 bond, McKisset left the St. Lucie County Jail the same day as the execution of the search warrant. It remains to be seen how the case will unfold as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues its investigation, coupled with the prosecution efforts of the State Attorney's Office to bring the truths of these fiscal malfeasances to light. At this time, no attorney is listed for McKisset on the St. Lucie County Clerk’s Office website.
