MORGANTOWN — Police say an ex-Bartlett House employee embezzled nearly $6,000 from the charity and now faces a felony charge.
The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department charged Sheila Hunt, 45, of Morgantown, with embezzlement. She was arraigned in Mon County Magistrate Court on Jan. 23, with bond set at $10,000.
According to her criminal complaint: In late August, officials from the Bartlett House told the Mon County Sheriff’s Department about $5,974 stolen in cash rent payments and donations starting in June through early August.
Various employees collected the cash payments and the money was kept in a bank bag in Hunt’s office desk. She was primarily responsible for depositing the money into a Clear Mountain bank account.
Deputies compared cash deposits in Hunt’s personal account with information about when the Bartlett House received cash payments. Several transactions matched about money received and a similar amount being deposited in Hunt’s personal account in a short time span.
Bartlett House executive director Keri DeMasi said they couldn’t comment much and the investigation is ongoing, but they are grateful they had internal control in place that caught the issue.
Embezzlement is punishable by one to 10 years in prison.
