A Smethport woman is in McKean County Jail, charged with embezzling more than $130,000 from Bisett Building Center.

Tina Elder, 45, of 410 S. Mechanic St., is charged with theft by unlawful taking, three counts of forgery, two counts of theft by deception, and one count of theft by failure to make required disposition, all second-degree felonies, and one count of access device fraud, a third-degree felony.

According to the criminal complaint, Elder was employed by Bisett as the director of finance beginning Aug. 19, 2019, until she resigned Oct. 16, 2020. She continued to have online access to the company’s business accounts until Nov. 16, 2020. During the course of her employment, she had administrator access and transfer ability over the company’s accounts and the Visa credit accounts.

After an internal audit of the business, it was found that Elder had made numerous charges to the business Visa accounts and then electronically transferred funds from the business’ operating account in an effort to cover the charges. The funds were used for personal goods and services, and not for the business, the complaint noted.

On three of the checks, Elder allegedly forged the signature of the vice president of operations without his knowledge or approval, the complaint alleged.

The audit concluded that Elder had taken $132,913.34, the complaint stated.

She was arraigned Friday evening before on-call District Judge Bill Todd and remanded to jail in lieu of $50,000 straight bail. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 21.