PANAMA CITY — A married couple has been arrested for allegedly skimming a local security company out of thousands of dollars, according to court records.
Shane and Tiana Johns both worked for Lone Wolf Investigations and Security Services in Panama City at one point before being arrested Monday on grand theft charges. Though an exact amount of how much the couple us accused of taking was unclear, the business reported coming up short of more than $6,600 in overtime and redundant paychecks since June, Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators reported.
The couple was released from jail Wednesday.
Lone Wolf’s owner, Thomas Dinse, contacted BCSO earlier in November. He had been working in place of Tiana Johns, 34, as the company’s clerk while she was on vacation. While working in her place, Dinse noticed some anomalies, and upon further investigation Dinse discovered a large amount of money missing, BCSO reported.
Dinse showed investigators where between June and July, Tiana Johns added $1,514 overtime hours to her husband’s paychecks that Shane Johns, 37, did not work, according to investigators. There were also additional paychecks to Tiana Johns’ husband of $4,215, which he already had received, BCSO said.
When Dinse confronted Tiana Johns, he only suspected her of taking a $920 check because he had not found everything else, investigators reported. In a text conversation, Tiana Johns told Dinse she didn’t know what to do since her husband had been out of work and that Shane Johns knew nothing about it, according to court records.
“I’m sorry,” she texted. “It was a bad decision.”
However, police also arrested her husband for allegedly accepting the stolen money. The $920 check had been issued in Shane Johns’ name in September — two months after he stopped working for Lone Wolf, and the check appeared to have Shane Johns’ endorsement on the back, investigators discovered.
While Shane Johns was charged with grand theft of less than $5,000, Tiana Johns was charged with grand theft of less than $10,000.
The Johns are scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 16.