Posted: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 10:45 pm | Updated: 10:54 pm, Tue Jun 11, 2013.

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/article_d2886958-d2e5-11e2-93e3-0019bb30f31a.html

Amherst woman charged with embezzlement, money laundering Steve Hardy newsadvance.com

A former Amherst County treasurer has been charged with money laundering and embezzlement of public funds.

Evelyn Bowling Martin, 59, was arrested Tuesday afternoon by a Virginia State Police special agent, according to a state police news release.

Authorities began investigating in July 2012 after being notified of discrepancies in the Amherst County Treasurer’s Office, the release states.

The two charges against Martin stemmed from incidents in October 2004 and January 2008, according to jail records. Martin, who became treasurer in 2009, has been released on $2,500 bond.

She had worked for the county treasurer’s office for more than three decades. She was appointed chief deputy treasurer in 1998 and treasurer 11 years later, upon her predecessor’s retirement. She won the post in an election the following year.

Amherst County’s current treasurer, Garry Friend, said when a new official takes over, it is standard procedure for the previous treasurer to provide a turnover audit detailing the county’s various assets.

However, Friend never received the audit from Martin when he assumed the position in January 2012. It was seized by county auditors, he said.

Looking through the county’s accounts, he noticed the checking account was not balanced and had not been for “several years.”

“I had a suspicion of things not being right,” Friend said.

He declined to disclose the amount of the discrepancy, saying he wanted to review the audit before commenting.

The state’s Auditor of Public Accounts asked Friend to file a formal request for investigation in spring 2012, he said.

Charlottesville’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman has been appointed special prosecutor in the case after the Amherst County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office recused itself. Chapman has been investigating following a court order by Judge Michael Gamble, issued in mid-2012.

The Virginia State Police were brought into the investigation a short time later.

State police spokeswoman Deborah Cox declined to characterize the public funds referenced in Martin’s charges, saying the case remains under investigation.

On Tuesday evening, County Administrator Clarence Monday said county authorities and state police had been investigating discrepancies in treasury reports for more than a year.

However, he declined to comment further on the case, saying he was out of town and unaware of Martin’s arrest.