BIG SANDY, Texas — An Upshur County woman was sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay restriction after allegedly defrauding her employer.
Tamarisk Trejo Mathews, 52, of Big Sandy, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison following a scheme to seize money and assets from her employer, a restaurant and music venue in Wood County. Mathews worked in accounts receivable and had access to the financial accounts of the business, the U.S Attorney's Office said.
Beginning in Dec. 2018, Mathews allegedly devised and executed a scheme to wrongfully obtain money from the restaurant which included writing an unauthorized checks from the company for personal expenditures and making charges in the business's name from online vendors. Mathews also opened an American Express account in the business's name and obtained an American Express credit card which she used to make personal purchases.
The scheme resulted in a $334,252 loss to the business. The case was investigated by the FBI.
DID YOU KNOW?
CBS19 is available live and on-demand on your favorite TV streaming device, anytime from anywhere in the U.S.
The free CBS19+ app for Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and smart TV devices features a 24/7 stream with the latest from CBS19.
In addition to the live stream, watch the latest from CBS19 on-demand, along with additional programming from our partners at TEGNA (like Verify, "Murder at My Door" and "In the News") and Locked On Sports, plus special collections from CBS19 like Under the Lights, Hooked on East Texas and CBS19 Originals.
DOWNLOAD ON ROKU
Add the free CBS19 channel by searching for CBS19 East Texas News in the Roku Channel Store on your device, or add the CBS19+ Roku channel using this link.
DOWNLOAD ON FIRE TV
Search for the free CBS19+ app in the Amazon App Store directly on your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, or add the CBS19+ Fire TV app using this link.
DOWNLOAD ON APPLE TV
Learn more about the free CBS19+ app in the Apple TV App Store and download directly from your Apple TV device.
DOWNLOAD ON YOUR SMART TV
The CBS19+ app is also now available directly on "smart" or "connected" televisions made by Samsung, LG and Philips, as well as televisions with Android TV. Search for CBS19 East Texas News in your television's app store to add CBS19+.
OTHER FREE WAYS TO WATCH
The CBS19+ 24/7 stream can be viewed on any desktop or mobile web browser anytime on the Watch page here on cbs19.tv.
You can also watch CBS19 News streaming live on the free CBS19 mobile app for your smartphone: