KENNEWICK, Wash.- The office manager for Horse Heaven Hills Pet Urgent Care has been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement after stealing funds from her employer for the past four years.
According to probable cause documents filed in Benton County Superior Court on April 14, Kristina Ripplinger,43, took $470,082.47 from HHH Urgent Care between 2019 and 2023.
Kennewick Police were contacted by an attorney for HHH Urgent Care on April 3 after the business discovered that a large amount of money was missing over the past few years.
A CPA firm hired by HHH Urgent Care found discrepancies in accounts related to cash being paid to the business by customers for routine pet services not being deposited into the business’s bank accounts according to the probable cause documents. The discrepancies in deposits stretch back to at least 2019.
Ripplinger was the Office Manager at HHH Urgent Care and had access to and controlled the cash for the business according to court documents. The investigation by the CPA, KPD and Prosecutor’s Office found checks were improperly logged and that all the deposits were rounded up to the nearest hundreds or thousands.
Security camera footage from April 5 shows Ripplinger taking money and putting it in her purse.
Ripplinger was arrested on April 11 and was willingly interviewed by Detectives. According to the probable cause documents she admitted to stealing funds for at least the past two years. She also admitted to taking money out of the businesses bank bag and attempting to conceal the embezzlement through falsifying records.
Kennewick Police searched Ripplinger’s bank accounts from 2019-2023 and discovered routine deposits of $20,000.
Ripplinger’s arraignment is set for April 24, her bail has been set at $40,000.
