A local woman, Christy Kenedy, is facing charges for embezzlement after a business owner filed a report. On October 9, 2020, Nancy Carter, the owner of Nancy’s Bookkeeping went to the Madill Police Department asking to file charges against Kenedy. Carter said she had recently spoken with the Marshall County Assistant District Attorney Heather Cooper and it was recommended that Carter file charges.
Carter informed Officer Chris Smith that Kenedy, a 46-year-old female from Kingston, was fired from her bookkeeping service on September 12, 2020 after Carter discovered Kenedy was allegedly paying for her own personal bills from a client’s bank account. She stated that she was notified about the transactions when Marcy Markum, a representative from the business called her on September 11, 2020. The representative said she was alerted by the owner of said business after he found some transactions that did not belong to him or his company.
The owner then called the bank and confirmed that the transactions were made by Kenedy. During the conversation, Markum informed Carter that there were other transactions made from the business account for Kenedy’s husband and mother. Carter and Markum presented Smith with bank statements showing the fraudulent charges dating back to June 13, 2019. The bank statements showed that payments were made to GM Financial, Red River Valley REA, Midland CR, Esurance, AT&T, Direct TV and Dish Network.
After gathering all the information from Carter and Markum, Smith tried calling Kenedy’s cell phone to get her side of the story. Allegedly, Smith called multiple times and left multiple voicemails and Kenedy never returned any of the calls.
Smith then went to Red River Valley REA and collected documents showing transactions made on Kenedy’s account from the client’s bank account. The documents showed the address that the account was linked to, and Smith decided to go and try and make personal contact with Kenedy.
Upon arrival, Smith noticed a black truck in the driveway. The front door of the residence was open but the glass screen door shut. Smith rang the doorbell, but nobody answered. Then, he noticed the truck had the husband’s striper guide business’ phone number on it.
Smith called that number and the husband answered. Smith informed him that he was needing to speak with Kenedy, and the phone was passed on to her. She told Smith that her phone does not get good reception in her house, and her phone never rang.
Smith questioned Kenedy a little bit, but then told her he needed her, her husband and her mother to all go down to the station so he can ask them questions. Once down at the station, Smith began questioning Kenedy about the transactions. Kenedy alleged that if she in fact did pay her bills from the wrong account, it was strictly on accident.
Smith questioned how that was possible. Kenedy stated that the online fields where you place the account numbers autofill, and it must have put the client’s account number and she did not realize it.
Kenedy’s husband, Robert, stated that she must have done it by accident and he will take care of it and pay it. Smith then informed Robert that was not possible, because the mistakes totaled over $24,000.
Smith asked Kenedy how she could not notice that the money from the bills were not being taken out of her own personal account, that she must have noticed something. She stated that she and Robert have separate accounts, and even though she pays the bills for herself, Robert and her mother, she never checks the balances on the accounts. Smith finished the interview, gathered all the necessary paperwork and handed it over to the District Attorney.
Six charges for Embezzlement between $2,500 and $15,000 were filed on December 18, 2020, and Kenedy was arrested on December 21, 2020. She is currently out on a $2,500 bond and no attorney is listed as of yet.