(Stafford)- From The Stafford Sheriff’s Office:
A woman was indicted on embezzlement and forgery charges on Monday for embezzling over $225,000 from a business in Stafford County just months after pleading guilty for embezzling $162,000 from a business in Prince William County.
On October 10, 2017, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the owner of Art and Sign FX. He told deputies that detectives with the Prince William County Police Department had informed him that one of his employees, identified as Debra Ann Jones, 58, of Fredericksburg had embezzled $225,768.50 from his company.
On October 4, 2017, Jones was arrested for embezzling $162,000 from a landscaping company in Prince William County where she had previously been employed as a bookkeeper. She was incarcerated at Rappahannock Regional Jail on four counts of embezzlement and four counts of forgery. On May 31, 2018, she pleaded guilty to these charges in Prince William County Circuit Court.
Detective McCullough with the Stafford Sheriff’s Office contacted the Prince William County Police Department and learned that Jones had fraudulently written numerous checks totaling $225,768.50 from Art and Sign FX. The detective spoke with the owners of Art and Sign FX and learned they had found numerous company checks written to Jones as well as cancelled checks in large amounts that had been sent to Rankin Landscaping.
During an interview, Jones told detectives she used some of the money she embezzled from Art and Sign FX to go towards paying back the landscaping company.
On August 6, 2018, Jones was indicted by a Stafford County Grand Jury on nine counts of embezzlement, nine counts of forgery, and one count of identity theft.