A 50-year-old Missoula woman was charged Monday with felony theft by embezzlement for allegedly stealing nearly $240,000 from a Montana-based architectural firm over eight years.

Linda Faye Harris began working for CTA Architects of Missoula in 2001 as an administrative assistant and bookkeeper. She resigned in June 2009, after CTA’s accounting department found that Harris had used a company credit card to purchase gas on a weekend. Harris could not explain the purchase.

Upon closer inspection, employees found what appeared to be forged signatures on business checks for the purchase of other personal items, as well as “questionable” credit card charges and expense reimbursements.

Management met with Harris in June to discuss the irregularities, and she admitted stealing between $10,000 and $15,000. She offered to resign, saying she’d made “a very bad mistake,” according to court records filed in Missoula County Justice Court.

The Montana-based company then hired an external accounting firm to audit their records, and the private firm found $237,842 in “questionable expenses” – purchases made between December 2001 and June 2009, according to court

records.

Harris told her employer that she had used the money to assist her son financially, paying for his rent, car payments, food purchases and insurance.

The audit showed forged checks made out to the U.S. Department of Education, which appeared to be student loan payments, and other payments on a Verizon Wireless account belonging to Harris’ son. Other spending included Costco payments, as well as purchases of clothing, boat parts, tools, tires and a refrigerator, records state. Harris begged for time to pay back the company.

Harris appeared in Missoula County Justice Court on Monday afternoon with her attorney, Phillip O’Connell. She remains free on her own recognizance, but is prohibited from having any contact with her previous employers and co-workers.

She faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in the Montana State Prison and a $50,000 fine.

Reporter Tristan Scott can be reached at 523-5264 or at tscott@missoulian.com.