ST. GEORGE —A local woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a former employer through a series of Venmo payments and a forged check faces a computer crime felony charge, as well as other charges, following her arrest Thursday morning.
36-year-old Cassandra Kay Jacobson of Washington City was arrested and booked into jail in Washington County facing multiple third-degree felony charges, including two counts of possession of a forgery device and one count of computer crimes.
The charges stem from an investigation that was set in motion when an officer was dispatched to a report of a theft that took place in St. George.
According to charging documents filed in 5th District Court, officers learned that a former employee of a graphics design company had allegedly stolen nearly $3,000 from the business during a series of financial transactions.
The first transaction involved a business check in the amount of $1,200 that police say was forged by the suspect, who then deposited the draft in her own account using a mobile application – two separate times – resulting in a $2,400 loss to the company.
The deposits were made in February and March, and police also say the account the monies were deposited into belonged to Jacobsen at the same bank as the business.
That previous December, the statement said the suspect reportedly gained access to the company’s Venmo account. Jacobson then made several transactions totaling more than $2,900 to an account that was listed under a fictitious name – funds that were eventually traced back to Jacobson’s account.
The fraudulent transactions resulted in an estimated loss of more than $4,000, according to authorities.
During a background check officers found two active misdemeanor warrants for the suspect’s arrest.
The suspect was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility facing two misdemeanor counts of theft by deception, as well as the felony offenses listed in this report.
Bail was set at $5,000, and Jacobson was released later that same evening after posting a bond.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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