Amber Bauer now faces six felonies.
Amber Bauer, 39, of Florissant was working in the spring and fall of 2015 for a local chapter of Sigma Beta Delta when she began forging checks and raiding its accounts, according to the complaint filed by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney.
The organization, a national honor society for students in business and management, first discovered something was wrong when the executive director discovered a pair of payments totaling $539.26 made toward Bauer's personal cell phone bill.
When she was confronted by her employer, Bauer told them she had done it by accident, authorities say. She was later fired and Sigma Beta Delta began a forensic audit of its books. Working with UMSL campus police, they discovered the T-Mobile bills were just the beginning.
Bauer made $22,350 in unauthorized payments from the society's PayPal account, police say. She is also accused of writing herself five checks totaling $7,900 from the society's accounts. She signed them by pasting in an electronic signature that the executive director had provided for a Sigma Beta Delta newsletter, according to a probable cause statement filed by police.
Bauer was charged last week with six felonies, including forgery and fraudulent use of a credit device. She posted $20,000 bond on Saturday, according to online records.
Sigma Beta Delta recognizes achievement in programs that teach business, administration and management.
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