A female McDonough resident was arrested for allegedly stealing large sums of money from her former employer, Acuity Brands Lighting.

Jennifer Mincey, 33, allegedly wrote 18 fraudulent reimbursement checks worth $36,685 for recalled circuit and lightening systems.

Acuity Brands Lightening, 1400 Lester Road, Rockdale County, began conducting the recall earlier this year and gave recalled checks to vendors that used the equipment. Vendors have received about $100,000 in reimbursement checks since the recall began.

Mincey, the former manager of the department that is overseeing the recalled items allegedly used her friend and acquaintances to pose as vendors who needed to recall an item. She then would write a reimbursement check to the individual, where they more than likely would split it, said Rockdale County Sheriff Office spokesperson Corp. Michael Camp.

Mincey has been allegedly writing fake checks since July.

The scheme Mincey has been accused of orchestrating started to unravel earlier this month. The last two checks she allegedly wrote were cancelled. This raised suspicion and Acuity began an internal investigation.

When the Atlanta-based company discovered what Mincey was doing, they contacted RCSO and she was arrested on Nov. 13. According to Camp, she was very helpful and cooperated with authorities.

Mincey resigned from her position at the company.

In total, Acuity Brands Lightening had an actual lost just under $30,000 on 16 checks.

Mincey is being charged with three counts of theft. Each count is attributed to each check that was charged in Rockdale County, said Camp. The three checks amounted to $8,880.

"That still leaves 13 checks," he said. "We're working with other jurisdictions (to find where the other checks were charged.)"

Camp says that four or five other agencies, including Henry, Spalding, Fulton and DeKalb counties, could be involved with the case if checks were cashed in those areas.

There are at least ten other known acquaintances of Mincey who could potentially be charged with offenses, but at this moment Mincey is the only suspect and she could incur more charges.

Mincey was bonded out of the Rockdale County Jail for $7,500.