TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A former employee of The Florida Association of Court Clerks and Comptrollers in Tallahassee has been accused of embezzling more than $175,000 in fraudulent charges on her company credit card.
KayDubois Carson, 52, is accused of using the Association’s issued credit card to pay for unapproved purchases such as flights, personal seminars, makeup, a gaming computer and tattoos, according to an investigation by the Leon County Sheriff's Office.
The fraudulent charges were discovered when the Association’s chief financial officer noticed some suspicious purchases by Carson, according to a probable cause affidavit.
After downloading the credit card statements, the CFO of the Association said they found a total of 136 transactions flagged as likely fraudulent, totaling more than $105,000.
The fraudulent charges by Carson were made between February 2017 and November 2018, while serving as the Association’s special event manager.
Investigators noted in the document that the biggest chunk of the fraudulent charges came from businesses that specialize in leadership training and mentorship, which total more than $61,000, with more than $15,000 unconfirmed invoices currently under investigation from these businesses as well.
In addition to the $105,000 worth of charges on Carson’s company credit card statements, there was also more than $29,000 in charges stemming from unauthorized travel, mostly flights, according to investigators.
Investigators said that Carson used her company credit card to pay for flights to Cancun, Mexico, and Brussels, Belgium among 29 other flights totaling $29,000 in unauthorized travel charges.
LCSO found an additional $40,000 in PayPal charges, but the specifics are still unknown as to what exactly was purchased, bringing her total stolen to more than $175,000.
Carson claimed that she would reimburse the Association on some invoices, but never did according to the probable cause document.
Based on the evidence, investigators found probable cause to charge Carson with first-degree grand theft over $100,000 and third-degree organized scheme to defraud. Carson was arrested on Dec. 7 and released the same day on a $27,500 bond.
