HOUSTON – Kristi Williams, the former Tomball ISD Manager of Property Tax Administration, has been federally charged with wire fraud after an investigation by FBI Houston.
A federal criminal information filed Tuesday alleges Williams stole nearly $1 million in tax payments to the school district.
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She has been summoned to appear in federal court on July 13.
According to court records, Williams held the tax manager position from January 2018 to November 2023 and her alleged fraud scheme ran from September 2018 through June 2023.
KPRC 2 News has reached out to Tomball ISD for additional information.
Williams allegedly ran the district’s tax office that collected local property taxes, court records show. When a taxpayer paid in cash, an employee would put the money in an envelope and record the payment using the district’s tax collection software as part of a group of payments.
Once the payments in the group reached $15,000, federal authorities said the group of payments would be closed out in the software and Williams was supposed to deposit the cash into the school district’s bank accounts.
Instead, Williams allegedly stole $996,174 of cash from the tax office, prosecutors allege, which she disguised using the software to “reverse” cash payments recorded in certain groups, record them in new groups, and keep the new groups open for long periods, according to records.
KPRC 2 News has reached out to Williams’ listed defense attorney for a response to the allegations and this story will be updated if a response is received.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not commented on the federal charge against Williams.