A former Mississippi mayor has been arrested and charged with three counts of embezzlement.
Bertha Thomas, the former mayor of Beulah, is accused of embezzling tax disbursements issued to the 242-person town by the Bolivar County Tax Collector. She was served with a $12,573.42 demand letter at the time of her arrest.
“Big or small, we will continue to identify embezzlement of your taxpayer dollars and forward these cases to prosecutors for enforcement,” State Auditor Shad White said.
Thomas now faces up to 20 years behind bars and $5,000 in additional fines if convicted. The release from White’s office noted that a $10,000 surety bond covers Thomas’ employment as mayor, which means a portion of the money will inevitably be recovered.
