A Miami payroll manager is accused of quietly bleeding her employer dry, with investigators saying she siphoned roughly $1.5 million from the doctor’s office where she worked before anyone caught on. The alleged scheme surfaced only after a replacement payroll manager dug into the books last year and alerted the practice. Police say the former paymaster now faces a stack of felony charges.
Miami police arrested 40-year-old Rachel Lynne Poor of Coral Springs on Thursday after detectives say she used her position at Miami Back & Neck Specialists to tweak payroll and generate unauthorized bonuses and purchases. According to an arrest report reviewed by Local 10, authorities allege she padded her biweekly paycheck by $1,720, awarded herself bonuses as high as $25,000, and racked up about $411,737 in personal expenses on a company credit card. Investigators say roughly $1,092,692 was taken from payroll accounts and about $411,737 was charged to the card, for a total near $1.5 million. Detectives arrested Poor at her Broward County home, and records show she was being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $35,000 bond.
How payroll schemes fly under the radar
Payroll fraud is a common flavor of occupational fraud, and it often thrives in smaller businesses and medical practices where one trusted person handles lots of financial tasks. Schemes can hide inside routine approvals for hours, overtime or bonuses, making them easy to miss.
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, payroll schemes have produced average losses topping $380,000 and frequently run for months or years before someone connects the dots. Anti-fraud specialists typically recommend basic internal controls to lower the risk, including regular reconciliations, splitting up financial duties so no one person controls everything, and having independent parties periodically review payroll.
Legal exposure and potential penalties
Poor faces charges that include first degree grand theft, organized scheme to defraud and credit card fraud, reflecting both the amount involved and the alleged pattern of conduct. Under Florida law, stealing property valued at $100,000 or more can be charged as first degree grand theft (Fla. Stat. § 812.014), and a scheme that pulls in $50,000 or more can qualify as organized fraud (Fla. Stat. § 817.034).
First degree felonies in Florida carry some of the heaviest penalties in the state system, including substantial maximum prison terms and fines, with potential multi decade sentences in certain cases, according to LegalClarity.
How the case unfolded and what comes next
According to investigators, the clinic’s owner filed a police report in June 2024 after the new payroll manager spotted irregularities and raised concerns. That complaint kicked off a deeper look by detectives, who eventually headed into Broward County to arrest Poor at her home. The arrest report lays out the detailed allegations and the amounts police say were taken.
The clinic had not publicly commented as of Local 10’s reporting.
For other small medical practices watching from the sidelines, the case is an unwelcome but useful reminder to shore up internal controls. Basic steps include limiting who can greenlight payroll changes, combing through company credit card statements on a regular schedule and locking down administrative access to payroll platforms such as ADP. Employers and auditors looking for structured guidance on spotting payroll abuse can turn to resources and checklists from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
