Colquitt County Magistrate Court employee accused of $22.000 theft www.privateofficer.com
MOULTRIE GA April 2 2012 — A former Colquitt County Magistrate Court employee accused of stealing more than $20,000 was arrested on a theft charge this week.
Victoria Denese Roberts turned herself in at the Colquitt County Jail on Wednesday afternoon and has been released on her own recognizance.
Roberts, 36, 1465 Old Doerun Road, was charged with one count of theft by taking.
Roberts is accused of taking about $22,000 from the court office between March 2009 and July 2010, said Steve Turner, special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Thomasville regional office.
On Aug. 3, 2010, the GBI was asked by the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office to investigate suspicion of missing money, Magistrate Court Judge J.J. McMillan said at the time.
A court employee was placed on paid administrative leave the same day and was terminated later in the month as it was anticipated that criminal charges would be filed quickly. Instead, the investigation into the amount of money missing took longer.
In February 2011, Turner told The Observer that a financial audit of the Magistrate Court office could take some time.
A criminal accusation was filed in the case by the Colquitt County District Attorney’s office on March 20, according to Colquitt County Superior Court records.
Roberts worked in the court office from 2005 until 2010. Prior to that she worked as a sheriff’s office dispatcher in the jail area for about four years, sheriff’s Lt. Julius Cox said.
Magistrate Court handles legal cases including small claims lawsuits, foreclosures, evictions and garnishments. Magistrate judges also set bails and issue arrest and search warrants for law enforcement agencies in the county.
Source:the Moultrie Observer
