PANAMA CITY — Nearly two weeks after her arrest in Kentucky on charges stemming from the alleged theft of public funds, the former director of the St. Andrews Marina was booked into the Bay County Jail on Sunday.
Susan Payne, 49, is charged with 12 counts of grand theft — 11 counts stem from money she allegedly took from the marina by taking payments for boat slip rentals, and one count stems from her alleged theft of a $3,500 commercial freezer — and one count of witness tampering.
Payne appeared in court Monday via video conference from the jail. Judge Shane Vann set a bond totaling $15,000. The bond is more than the total the money she allegedly took, according to criminal complaints filed against Payne.
Payne was fired in September as the marina’s dock master after city officials found numerous deficiencies in her job performance. Records indicate she created a hostile work environment, lied to supervisors or the public, used city resources for personal gain and falsified documents.
The criminal complaints allege Payne pocketed $3,948.74 intended as payment for slip rentals, and then “altered or circumvented” accounting procedures to balance the marina’s books in, presumably, an attempt conceal the theft. Payne is accused of doing this 11 times, collecting somewhere between $300 and $5,000 each time.
She already had been suspended from her job in August when she allegedly harassed a marina employee so he would find and conceal documents and records that Panama City Police detectives seized as evidence against her.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrested Payne in Bowling Green, Ky., in early February.
Payne did not respond to a message seeking comment Monday. An attorney representing her filed a motion to set bond in which he indicated she would defend against the charges.