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SALT LAKE CITY — A former Utah Transit Authority employee convicted earlier this year of stealing about $2.3 million from UTA fare boxes is now accused of withdrawing money from his bank account right before he was sentenced, allegedly so he wouldn't have to relinquish those funds.
David Leroy Healy, 57, of Taylorsville, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with seven counts of theft, a second-degree felony; plus theft and tampering with evidence, third-degree felonies.
Healy worked for UTA for 20 years as a fare equipment maintenance technician. Prosecutors say he would collect buckets of coins and cash from bus fare boxes and deposit the money into his own accounts.
"He was only caught when a neighbor questioned his behavior and reported the crime to the police," according to charging documents.
Healy was charged in 2019 and pleaded guilty in February to misuse of public money and engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity. In March he was sentenced to one year in the Salt Lake County Jail and placed on three years of probation.
"Healy also agreed to relinquish as restitution 'all funds in the Cyprus Credit Union bank accounts' as a specific term of his plea," the charges state. "At the time of his plea … Healy agreed to relinquish $649,837.46 held in various accounts" which contained funds stolen from UTA.
But in September, when a UTA officer went to collect the money from those accounts, he discovered tens of thousands of dollars were missing, according to court documents.
From March 18 through March 30 — the day Healy was sentenced — more than $67,000 was withdrawn from one of Healy's accounts during eight separate transactions at different Cyprus Credit Union branches throughout Salt Lake County, according to the charges. All of the withdrawals were under $10,000 to avoid detection, the charges state. The bank is required to generate a special report to law enforcement for transactions of $10,000 or more.
"On the eve of sentencing, (Healy) knowingly went and withdrew funds from a bank account he knew to contain funds he was agreeing to forfeit. He concealed his new crime by going to multiple Cyprus Credit Union branches, and keeping the withdrawals under $10,000 each time," the charging documents allege. "(He) then went to sentencing on March 30 and concealed his fraud from the state and the court, even going so far as to agree to forfeit funds he knew he had just withdrawn. (Healy) has shown a lack of respect for the process, and for the public with his actions."
Prosecutors say all of the withdrawals were in cash. As of Monday, investigators were still looking for the missing money.
