A woman was arrested after a Raymond business noticed inaccuracies in business financial records including alleged forgery. The woman was booked into the Pacific County Jail and was facing charges for forgery and first-degree theft.

Like another case last week, the woman appeared in Pacific County Superior Court on Feb. 20 and Judge Donald J. Richter determined there was probable cause for her arrest. She was released without bail and was scheduled for arraignment on Feb. 23.

According to court records, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Crawford opted to not file formal charges against the woman — due to concerns about having enough evidence to support criminal charges.

Missing money

The business caught on to the alleged thefts on Jan. 16 after noticing that an employee may have been committing embezzlement, including signing checks with the owner’s signature.

According to court records, a marijuana product producer in Raymond noticed “financial inconsistencies” dating as far back as April 2023. The business owners provided law enforcement with copies of their financial records.

“[The owner] showed me how the balance in QuickBooks was off, [he] showed me a few different times where cash on hand was in the negatives,” RPD Officer Jayden Madrid stated in court records.

Law enforcement served a search warrant at the person’s residence on Feb. 11. Officers seized laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other electronics.

Interview

Officers spoke with the alleged embezzler the same day, and she claimed she signed two checks with the owner’s permission, including a $400 Christmas bonus. The owner contended that he had already provided her with a $200 cash Christmas bonus.

“[The woman] advised that there were several [business bills] that were in delinquency due to a cash shortfall because of an oil not selling like it was supposed to,” Madrid stated in court records. “[The woman] advised she had met with [the owners] multiple times to go over what bills were to be paid in what order and what bills would have to be skipped until they were in better financial shape.”

“[The woman] advised that she had also let [the owners] know about the tax situation and that they were all working together to come up with a payment plan,” Madrid added.

Owners unaware

According to records, the business owners had no recollection of being behind on any bills or any issues with their taxes.

“They advised that when they spoke with the IRS representative, they were told that [the woman] had switched their account notifications to be only through secure email instead of receiving mail notifications,” Madrid stated in court records.

“[The owner] advised he felt this was in an attempt to keep them unaware of the account’s status. [He] advised he believed [the woman] knew the ‘jig was up’ because of the time of year and it getting close to tax season,” Madrid added.

Court records did not elaborate on how much money was allegedly embezzled.

The suspect was arrested and booked into the Pacific County Jail for forgery and first-degree theft. She was released on her own personal recognizance on Feb. 20, and her arraignment for Feb. 23 was stricken. In light of the no-charge decision, the Observer is not naming the arrestee.