She was the office manager and bookkeeper who had the authority to write and sign corporate checks for Golson Law Firm of Clearwater.
In six years, she wrote herself checks and paid bills using the firm's bank account that totaled $176,000, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.
Kerry Sue McCallister-Higgins was arrested Monday night at her home. She was charged with grand theft.
McCallister-Higgins, 34, of Clearwater, wrote unauthorized checks to herself that totaled $46,000 and wrote checks to pay for her credit card bills that totaled $130,000, the sheriff's office said.
The debt on her credit cards included hotel stays in San Francisco, Chicago, Disney World and Orlando. It also included purchases at supermarkets, hair salons, restaurants, home improvement stores and car rentals, the sheriff's office said.
McCallister-Higgins, a paid employee at the firm, allegedly continued to take money for six years, the sheriff's office said.
The investigation began March 1 when the law firm's owner, William Golson, found checks in the amount of $34,000 that McCallister-Higgins had written to herself. She was paid by a separate payroll company, so there was no reason for the firm to write checks out to her, the sheriff's office said.
Golson contacted the sheriff's office.
Detectives learned that she wrote dozens of unauthorized checks to herself and to credit card companies she owed money, the sheriff's office said.
McCallister-Higgins was released from Pinellas County Jail this morning after posting bail set at $50,000, records show.
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