Sheriff: Tax collector office theft at least $200K
Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith said Wednesday that he believes the theft of funds from the county’s tax collector’s office will exceed $200,000.
Smith said Marzetta Marie Alexander-Davis, 65, Apalachicola, who has an accounting role in the tax collector’s office, was arrested and booked into the Franklin County Jail Wednesday on charges of grand theft, and committing fraud as a public servant by concealing, destroying or altering official records.
That same day, Tax Collector Rick Watson issued a public statement that read as follows.
“Recently, I became aware that an employee in the Apalachicola branch of the Franklin County tax collector’s office had allegedly written checks to herself without authorization. Immediately upon discovering this, I terminated the employee and notified the appropriate authorities. They are investigating the matter, and I am cooperating in the investigation.
“I take this matter seriously and will do everything necessary to maintain the integrity of the tax collector’s office. I have full confidence in the Franklin County Sheriff A. J. Smith and his team handling the investigation,” he said. “I understand that a person is considered innocent until proven guilty and will refrain from further comments until this matter is resolved.”
Smith said his team, led by Lt. Steve James and Sgt. John Nunez would be handling the investigation. He said some of the thefts occurred this year, “but they could go back further.” He said an employee of Centennial Bank detected possible problems, and then notified Watson.
Smith did not comment on when the initial uncovering of the thefts and the subsequent notification had taken place. “I don’t know the time line,” he said.
The arrest comes three weeks following the Nov. 5 election, when Republican Amy Cook defeated Teresa Ann Martin, a Republican running without party affiliation. Both women work in the tax collector’s office.
Watson, 77, announced earlier this year that he did not intend to seek reelection. After initially being appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in April 2017 to succeed the late Jimmy Harris, Watson won the right to finish Harris’ term in 2018, and then won a four-year term outright in 2020.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.