Bookkeeper indicted for embezzlement

Published 3:22 pm Thursday, May 21, 2020

A woman who formerly worked as the bookkeeper for Valley Tractor Repair Company located in Jonesborough has been indicted by grand jury following an embezzlement investigation.

According to Washington County Sheriff Ed Graybeal, Kelly Diane Richey, 45, Afton, was charged on a three-count indictment Monday and subsequently turned herself in to authorities on Thursday. The charges stem from an investigation that began earlier this year where Richey illegally used a company credit card in order to make online purchases in support of her own personal business. Richey was also found to have used the company credit card for other reasons that include buying groceries online, placing orders through Amazon, and making pays on her own utility bills. Richey used the credit card over 200 times and made over $21,000 worth of purchases from May 2019 to March 2020.

Additionally, it was discovered that Richey, through her role as the bookkeeper to the business, had secretly added her part-time daughter to the company’s health insurance policy in April 2019 which resulted in a loss to the company in excess of $3,000. The case was presented before a grand jury and a true bill was returned.

Richey now faces the following charges: one count of theft over $10,000 (regarding the credit card fraud), one count of theft over $2,500 (regarding the unauthorized insurance inclusion), and one count of violation of the Tennessee Fraudulent Insurance Act.

Richey was booked into the Detention Center and was released after making a $10,000 bond. She is scheduled to be arraigned in Washington County Criminal Court on July 27 at 9 a.m.