Three Enid citizens – two women and one man – were arrested on Thursday on over 100 complaints of fraud and embezzlement.
Candice Mae Ritchie, 43, Mark Allen Ritchie, 48, and Barbara Ellen Laster, 69, were all arrested as the result of an investigation carried out by Enid Police Department detective Jordan O’Reilly. That investigation revealed nearly $68,700 of fraudulently obtained funds and 349 total offenses.
The investigation began in mid-July when the owner of several area daycares called the EPD with a report about the director at one facility and a teacher at another writing allegedly fraudulent business checks. Candice Ritchie was been identified as the daycare director in question, while Laster was identified as the teacher. Furthermore, the investigation found that neither of the women knew what the other was doing.
All three arrested individuals were taken into custody on complaints of obtaining money by bogus check, with Mark Ritchie being pinned for the brunt of those complaints with 121.
The investigation is ongoing and the EPD has stated it will release no further information.
