An employee at the Lowe’s store in Turlock was arrested Wednesday after it was discovered she had embezzled thousands of dollars from the company over a span of several months.

Sonya Leopoldo, 44, was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement according to the Turlock Police Department.

Leopoldo is accused of stealing more than $5,000 from the company through fraudulent returns, said police spokesperson Officer Mayra Lewis.

Leopoldo is accused of using the store’s automated invoice list to get merchandise numbers that she would then enter into the system as a return and pocket the cash, Lewis said.

The scheme was discovered when a customer’s credit card was mistakenly refunded for a purchase that was never made and the customer contacted the store.

The alleged thefts dated back to September 2014, Lewis said.

Leopoldo was taken into custody at the store.