An employee is accused of stealing nearly $22,000 from the Crawfordsville/Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce by writing checks to herself from a Chamber account using the former director’s signature.
Abigail J. Hedrick, 25, Waynetown, was arrested Tuesday on a warrant and released after posting $2,000 cash bail.
Hedrick, who was suspended from the Chamber when the investigation began, faces a combined 28 felony counts of theft over $750 and counterfeiting, according to court records. She was also charged with two other misdemeanor counts of theft.
The investigation began in September when the Chamber’s treasurer found 15 separate checks written to Hedrick, the executive assistant, from a gift certificate account, according to a probable cause affidavit signed by Crawfordsville Police Officer Aaron Mattingly. The checks were dated between June and August.
Hedrick admitted to the Chamber that she wrote the checks, according to police.
Bank records showed the money had been deposited into Hedrick’s account, according to police. Each check appeared to be signed with former director Rick Hernandez’s signature stamp, authorities said.
Five of the checks were written after Hernandez resigned to take another job, according to police.
Hernandez told investigators he had no knowledge of his stamp being used to sign the checks and hadn’t given Hedrick permission to use his signature to endorse them.
Court records do not list an attorney for Hedrick.