Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

Cobb cops: Ex-finance department employee stole $37K from city

Mugshot of Tonya Michelle Martin

Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office

Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office

Mugshot of Tonya Michelle Martin
By Ben Brasch
Sept 6, 2017

A former Austell finance department employee accused of bilking $37,000 from the city’s general fund was arrested Tuesday night.

Tonya Michelle Martin was arrested at her Hollyberry Way home in Dallas on a felony charge of theft by taking of a fiduciary, said Glenn Daniel, a spokesman with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.

During 10 months as an accounts payable/payroll specialist, Martin wrote herself and deposited 87 fraudulent checks, according to a warrant.

Natalie Poulk, deputy chief of Austell police, said the alleged crime surfaced when the city’s finance manager was reviewing the books and noticed Martin’s name where it shouldn’t have been.

Poulk said Martin worked for the city from July 25, 2016, to July 11, 2017. The sheriff’s office started investigating about a month ago, Poulk said.

A Cobb magistrate judge signed the warrant to arrest Martin a week ago and ordered she be initially held on a bond of $15,000.

Cobb jail records showed Wednesday morning that she remained in jail.

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In other news:

After Hurricane Harvey hit, Houston found itself with a shortage of fresh water. Coca-Cola told rescuers it had a large amount of bottled water in a Houston warehouse. Coca-Cola said the rescuers were welcome to it, if they could reach it through the flooding. The workers "broke into" the warehouse and took the water between rescues.

About the Author

Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.

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