BY TIM WILLERT twillert@opubco.com
Two former Del City Housing Authority executives charged with embezzlement are accused of using agency credit cards to buy groceries, movies, music and restaurant meals, court papers show.
Tammy Louise Nix, 50, of Shawnee, and Christa Joy Barnhill, 30, of El Reno, were charged Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court with one count each of embezzlement by a public employee.
Between November 2008 and February 2011, Nix and Barnhill fraudulently used authority-issued credit cards to make nearly $21,000 in unauthorized purchases, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Nix made $7,692.01 worth of charges not related to the day-to-day operations of the housing authority, including groceries, online credit monitoring services, household items and restaurant meals, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wrote in the affidavit.
She admitted using authority credit cards for personal purchases when investigators interviewed her at a Pottawatomie County restaurant in March, according to the affidavit.
Barnhill made $12,402.96 in unauthorized purchases, including groceries, movies, music and convenience store items, the agent reported.
She admitted using the cards to make nonapproved purchases when investigators interviewed her at her home in January, the affidavit states.
Investigators said the charges were paid with checks drawn on the housing authority's operating account and were not reimbursed by Nix or Barnhill.
Nix was the authority's executive director from November 2004 until she was fired in May 2011, records show.
Barnhill, a five-year employee, was assistant executive director when she left the agency in May 2010.
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