Two former employees at East Carolina University were charged with embezzlement.

Sandra Martinez, of Greenville (seen on the left), and Sherry Moore, of La Grange, were accused of stealing $62,000 and $17,000 respectively, police said. Both suspects worked at the Bernstein Center Pharmacy, an ECU-operated pharmacy on Easy Street in Greenville. Martinez was a cashier at the business and Moore was a pharmacy technician/ cashier.

Both suspects were charged with embezzlement of state property.

According to ECU police, they discovered financial discrepancies through an internal audit, prompting them to start a criminal investigation in November. Police said they discovered that the money had been embezzled from Jul 1, 2010 through Oct. 31, 2012.

ECU Police said they closed the investigation and turned the case over to the Pitt County District Attorney's Office.

"We identified this situation internally, responded immediately with a thorough investigation and have taken strong steps to make sure it does not happen again," said  Dr. Phyllis Horns, vice chancellor for health science.  "Part of the way we conduct ourselves at ECU is being respectful of the law and we take it very seriously when that does not happen."