CORRECTION: We have amended this story to show that Sullivan was manager at Windermere's Grandview on the Lake, something we were alerted to after the story was posted.
The former manager of Windermere Vacation Rentals' Grandview on the Lake in Chelan is in the Chelan County Jail, accused of paying thousands of dollars to ghost employees he fraudulently put on the payroll.
On Monday, Chelan County sheriff’s deputies arrested 38-year-old Dennis Sullivan on suspicion of first-degree theft and leading organized crime. Sullivan is alleged to have added five people to the payroll at Windermere, paying each of them for more than a year for work that was never performed. In addition, Sullivan is accused of paying salary to two employees for months after they left the business.
All told, deputies say Sullivan arranged about $170,000 in illicit payments to seven people, some of whom then shifted money into Sullivan’s account after receiving payment.
Windermere Vacation Rentals owners said Sullivan was hired at Grandview on the Lake as a front desk worker in 2019 and promoted to its manager in 2020. They said they fired Sullivan this past November due to poor performance and mistreatment of staff.
Police say the alleged fraudulent payments were discovered by a bookkeeper after his departure. Sullivan was being held in the Chelan County jail and was scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.