Woman accused of stealing nearly $344,000 from Fulton business
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The former general manager of Fulton Wurst Haus and Butchery was charged on Friday after she was accused of embezzling $343,711.31 from the business over the course of nearly two years.
Tonya Clarke, 50, of Mokane, was charged with two counts of stealing more than $25,000, three counts of stealing more than $750 and one count of misdemeanor stealing. She is being held at the Callaway County Jail without bond. A court date has not been set.
The probable cause statement says the victims – the owners of the business – indicated that several unauthorized transactions from their bank account were made from February 2023-December 2024.
Court documents list several transactions occurring from the account, which include checks made to a business that was owned by Clarke, a trust agreement, debit purchases from Walmart and various transactions worth thousands of dollars noted as “payment,” among other cash withdrawals. Clarke would also allegedly pay herself regularly more than her declared salary, the statement says.
Clarke allegedly told deputies “conflicting statements,” while acknowledging she was one of the few people with access to the account.
“Clarke also stated during the interview that if she wanted to steal from him I could have and covered it up,” the deputy wrote in court documents.