MCSO employee arrested for pretending father died to get time off

PHOENIX — A former Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office employee was arrested Wednesday for lying about the death of her father to get paid time off from work.

Amanda Vanrees allegedly received 30 hours of paid bereavement leave after she gave her supervisor a forged cremation certificate.

According to MCSO, Vanrees’ father is alive and the name on the certificate, which Vanrees obtained online, was fictitious.

“Our employees are never above the law,” Sheriff Paul Penzone said in a press release.

“They will be held to the high ethical standard expected of a world-class law enforcement agency like the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”

Vanrees had been employed as an emergency dispatcher since January and recently resigned. An MCSO spokesman said she admitted to the allegations.

She was booked into the 4th Avenue Jail for one count each of fraudulent schemes and forgery, both felonies.

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