EL PORTAL, FLA. (WSVN) - A Village of El Portal councilman has been arrested and is facing some serious charges.
Harold Eugene Mathis Jr. was taken into custody on Thursday and is now facing 63 felony counts.
Charges include second-degree organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and forgery.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, the embezzlement occurred when Mathis was working as a paralegal and office manager for a Miami law firm.
Officials said around the beginning of March, Mathis quit his job and came back to clear out his desk. While he was doing so, a partner of the firm noticed a credit card statement from the firm in Mathis’ box of personal items.
Portions of the statement appeared to have been cut out of the document, leading to further investigation.
A total of 410 alleged unauthorized purchases were discovered.
Officials said over $22,000 of charges, fees and interests were allegedly made by Mathis.
Investigators said 20 checks from the law firm’s business checking account were allegedly deposited into Mathis’ personal checking account over the period of time from March 2017 to February 2019.
Cash payments of $1,900 made by a law firm client are said to have never been deposited to the firm’s account.
The State Attorney’s Office said the client who made the cash payments was given receipts from Mathis for the payments.
Mathis is currently being held on a $84,000 bond.
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