Conviction of Dade County township embezzler affirmed

The conviction of a woman who teamed with her husband to embezzle thousands of dollars from South Morgan Township in Dade County was upheld by the Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals today.
Court records indicate that between 2002 and 2004 Tamara J. Holman wrote checks on the township account to herself and her husband. After the books were turned over to Dade County Clerk Larry McGuire at the end of 2004, McGuire asked the Sheriff's Department to investigate some discrepancies:

Deputy (Max) Huffman testified that in his review of the Township financial records it appeared that "[i]n 2002, the accounts seemed to be fairly complete or kept up complete in the check stubs and check register. As it continued on in 2003 and 2004, there . . . [were] more entries missing, totals were not carried forward, entries were not made at all." He stated that as time passed the number of checks written directly to Defendant and Husband "increased significantly, as well as the amounts of the checks."

Husband testified at trial, and admitted that in 2003 the Township received $13,457 in total receipts and he and Defendant were paid $4,801. Husband acknowledged that the total receipts for the Township in 2004 were $7,344.49, and he and Defendant were paid $5,702.11 during that year.

The trial court found Defendant guilty on both counts of stealing. The trial court suspended imposition of sentence on Count I and suspended execution of a two year prison sentence on Count II, which resulted in Defendant being placed on probation for five years. This appeal followed.