A former Savannah judicial employee has been indicted for allegedly pocketing hundreds of dollars in county court payments and then lying to investigators about it, according to news reports and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Veronica Culver, 51, who resigned last month, was a senior judicial secretary at the court for Chief Judge Tammy Stokes, city officials said, according to The Savannah Morning News.
GBI agents arrested Culver on March 5.
She is accused of three counts of theft by conversion, which allegedly occurred on the job between Jan. 17, 2019, and July 29, 2019, The Savannah Morning News reported.
The indictment said Culver breached “her duties as a Chatham County Recorder’s Court employee.”
Court Clerk Catrina Perry-Brown became aware of the missing funds and in late July filed a complaint with the Chatham County District Attorney's Office, according to a GBI report.
That complaint alleged Culver stole a total of $521 in court payments from two victims in seven months, according to The Savannah Morning News.
Next, the case was turned over to GBI, which began its investigation into the claims July 31.
The findings were later presented to a grand jury, which indicted Culver nearly seven months later on Feb. 19, according to The Savannah Morning News.
The grand jury also indicted Culver on four counts of making false statements to GBI agent Tracy Sands, who was investigating the case.
Culver allegedly told Sands that some of the money wasn’t intended for the court but had actually been donated to a fundraiser for her daughter, according to the indictment.
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