News

Former McD's manager who stole from ATM gets 45-month prison sentence

May 27, 2004

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Matthew James Olivero, a former Bloomington man who admitted stealing more than $200,000 in cash from an ATM in the McDonald's restaurant he managed, has been sentenced to 45 months in prison.

According to a report in the Sun Current, Hennepin County District Judge Beryl Nord also ordered Olivero, 30, to pay $204,000 in restitution to the McDonald's Corp.

Olivero was arrested last year, then released pending the outcome of the criminal case against him. He pleaded guilty to four felony counts of theft by swindle earlier this year.

Court documents indicate that Olivero was a manager of the McDonald's restaurant in Bloomington in 1999 when the restaurant installed a company-owned ATM. Olivero was given keys to the ATM and the authority to keep it operating with cash from the restaurant's receipts.

Olivero was the only person at the restaurant who had a key and combination to access the ATM, a criminal complaint stated.

McDonald's security contacted Bloomington police in July 2002 after an in-house audit turned up large cash losses in comparing the funds designated for the ATM and the actual record of withdrawals.

McDonald's accounting office determined that about $200,000 had been stolen from the time the ATM was installed in November 1999 until July 2002. Bank records obtained by police showed regular deposits of large amounts of cash into Olivero's bank accounts during the same period, the complaint states.

Detective Heidi Miller, who led the investigation, found that prior to the thefts, Olivero had serious financial troubles.

Prosecutors charged that Olivero used the stolen money to send his children to private schools and bought season tickets to Minnesota Wild, Timberwolves and Thunder games. He also bought a used motorcycle and membership in a Florida timeshare condominium, as well as a boat and jewelry.