PASADENA, Texas (TCD) — A financial administrator recently pleaded guilty to embezzling money from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce for years and then using the funds for personal luxury expenses and trips.
According to a Dec. 19 news release from Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, 47-year-old Jamie Huffar pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and forgery. A judge sentenced her to serve 15 years in prison. As part of her plea deal, three other pending charges against Huffar were dismissed.
Between November 2017 and November 2022, Huffar reportedly stole over $1 million from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. According to Ogg, she used the funds to pay for cosmetic surgeries and trips to Budapest and Disney World, as well as massages, new iPhones, and clothing.
Huffar reportedly used the embezzled money to purchase “hundreds of items from Amazon, eBay, and other shopping websites,” and she even paid thousands of dollars to attend a 2022 World Series baseball game with a friend.
According to the district attorney’s office, the Chamber of Commerce hired Huffar to work as a bookkeeper, and she eventually became their director of finance. While working, she reportedly took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to “delay audits and other checks and balances while stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the nonprofit.”
The Chamber eventually made her submit financial records for audit, and she reportedly confessed to opening up a credit card in the Chamber president’s name. Ogg noted that “the full breadth of her extensive theft did not come to light until the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Pasadena Police Department worked together on a four-month-long investigation.”
Huffar reportedly created fake documents of balance statements for the Chamber and took out credit cards in other people’s names. Ogg said she stole money from fundraising events and sent funds from the Chamber’s accounts to her personal PayPal.
In a statement, Ogg said, “Prosecuting white-collar crime like this is an important priority because stealing from small businesses and nonprofits doesn’t just hurt the organization, it hurts the people those organizations are trying to help.”
According to the news release, Assistant District Attorney Michael Levine noted that “small businesses and nonprofits are often vulnerable to embezzlement because they promote trusted employees who are not insured or bonded like other financial professionals.”
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