Tax Clerk Accused of Stealing $16,000
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A clerk at the Orange County treasurer’s office has been arrested on suspicion of stealing about $16,000 in property tax payments, officials said.
Colleen Mastel, 31, of Orange allegedly embezzled $15,795.68 from October 1996 through November 1997, officials said.
Mastel was employed at the treasurer-tax collector’s office for more than seven years, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner said. Her duties included opening mail and sorting checks and money orders received in payment of property taxes, he said.
A report of missing money orders set off a 10-month investigation that included a search of Mastel’s home and examination of her bank records.
Because Mastel cooperated with officials, she was allowed to turn herself in. Authorities said she was booked without incident into Orange County Jail on Thursday. She is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
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