ST. GEORGE —A 44-year-old St. George woman was arrested Monday for allegedly defrauding a Washington City business of more than $100,000 over the course of several years as a former employee of the company, investigators say.
The arrest stems from a months-long investigation by detectives in Washington City detectives who originally responded to a Nov. 14, 2022, call alleging that a local business had been defrauded by an employee of the company. The suspect was identified as Michelle Rudd, according to charging documents filed in 5th District Court.
Washington City Police Sgt. Tyson Dove told St. George News that Rudd worked as a manager at the company that specializes in event planning and supplies in Washington City and also said Rudd was recently terminated from the position.
The alleged fraud came to light during a review of the company’s credit card statements when the owner noticed two separate cash advances totaling more than $3,200. His suspicions were raised when they discovered both transactions were completed after normal business hours and charged to the company’s American Express account.
The irregularities found during the month of November prompted the company to take a closer look at the employee’s past charges and advances, and an examination of the statements going back several years indicated the two transactions in November were not isolated incidents.
Instead, the records revealed Rudd had reportedly been stealing from the company by making a number of unauthorized purchases and cash advances that were paid by the business over a three-year period.
Investigators said the internal audit of the credit card account revealed that since 2019, Rudd had reportedly charged more than $115,000 in unauthorized purchases and cash advances “that appeared to be of a personal nature.”
Detectives also discovered that during a two-year period, the suspect charged more than $28,400 in 11 different transactions made at three Mesquite hotels, including the CasaBlanca, Eureka and Virgin River hotels.
The suspect reportedly charged more than $1,000 on the business credit card to pay for personal items ordered through Amazon.
Investigators also learned that one of the responsibilities assigned to Rudd as a manager was to make deposits into the business accounts that primarily consisted of checks made out to the company in payment for services rendered.
The company told police that 11 of the deposits totaling more than $74,400 were stolen over a two-year period as well, the report states.
Bank records revealed that Rudd deposited the checks into the business account, but then she withdrew the entire amount of the checks immediately after, which the company told police she was not authorized to do.
Investigators obtained the suspect’s bank records as well, including copies of canceled checks and other financial statements covering a three-year period starting in 2020. The records revealed deposit amounts that corresponded with the dates and amounts reportedly stolen from the business when the check deposits were cashed out by the suspect, the officer noted.
During an interview with detectives at the Washington City Police Department on Monday, Rudd reportedly admitted to depositing “some of the checks from the business” and then taking the fund out in cash “for personal gain,” detectives noted, and also used the company credit card for personal use at various casinos in Mesquite.
Following the interview, Rudd was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility and was released a few hours later on a promise to appear.
On Tuesday, the Washington County Attorney’s Office formally charged the suspect with second-degree felony theft and one count of unauthorized use of a financial transaction card charge, a misdemeanor. On March 6, the defendant is scheduled to make an initial appearance in court in St. George.
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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