Big Sandy woman sentenced to three years after defrauding business

UPSHUR COUNTY – Our KETK news partners report that A Big Sandy woman has been sentenced to prison for nearly three years after pleading guilty to wire fraud on Wednesday. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Texas, 52-year-old Tamarisk Trejo Mathews will face 33 months in prison for wire fraud. Mathews was responsible for accounting duties of a restaurant and music venue in Wood County allowing her access to the financial accounts of the business and issue checks to creditors.

“[Matthews] wrote checks that she was not authorized to write for personal expenditures, made charges in the business’s name from vendors such as Amazon, and used business funds to make purchases through PayPal. Mathews also opened an American Express account in the name of the business and obtained an American Express credit card,” the attorney’s office said.

Mathews would then allegedly use the cards to make personal purchases using business funds. The scheme resulted in a loss to the business of $334,252, which she now has to pay in restitution.