ST. GEORGE —A former office manager accused of embezzling over $35,000 now faces multiple felonies.
On Wednesday, May 22, Stephanie Kaye Jackson, 39, of St. George, was arrested following an investigation into allegations that she had embezzled thousands of dollars over an 18-month period while working as an office manager at a local medical office.
Jackson was in charge of making purchases for the company using a credit card issued by the office, which she reportedly used to make 239 unauthorized purchases totaling more than $17,000, according to charging documents filed with the court.
Additionally, officers say they obtained records of the fraudulent credit card purchases and checks, along with electronic cash transaction receipts and cash receipts with signatures that were forged using other employees’ names, which indicated that $3,000 in cash payments never made it into the company bank account.
Jackson was also accused of devising a scheme to have office supplies delivered to her home and then deleting the account with the vendor in an attempt to conceal the orders from the company.
The investigation further unveiled that Jackson reportedly claimed numerous hours on her time cards that were spent working from home, but she was never authorized to work from home. Police say they found irregularities with login times appeared to have been adjusted during periods when Jackson wasn’t in the office or the business was closed, logged hours from other IP addresses and overtime hours that were billed but never authorized.
During a 14-month period ending in May 2023, Jackson logged more than 600 fraudulent hours that resulted in $15,000 in losses to the company for wage overpayments, according to the police report.
In all, the forgery, theft and overpayments reportedly cost the company more than $35,000.
Police say they reached out to Jackson to speak with her, but she declined to meet with them. She was arrested and booked into jail on the morning of May 22. The case was filed the following day.
Jackson has been charged with three second-degree felony charges including one count each of pattern of unlawful activity, theft by deception and unlawful use of a financial card. She also faces one third-degree felony count of theft.
Jackson made an initial appearance in court on Friday and was released from jail after posting a bond.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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