Former midstate tax office employee charged with theft, falsifying records

A former employee in the Bibb County Tax Commissioner’s Office was indicted Tuesday on allegations she falsified ad valorem tax data and pocketed more than $7,500.

Erin Susanne Fountain, 39, is charged with nine counts of theft by taking and 14 counts of computer forgery, according to the indictment filed in Bibb County Superior Court.

Between May and September 2014, Fountain allegedly altered trade-in data contained in the Georgia Registration and Title System, falsifying records to reflect less tax was owed and then pocketed a portion of the tax paid, according to an arrest warrant in the case.

Tax Commissioner Wade McCord said the alleged theft occurred less than a year after the state changed the way it collected taxes levied on automobiles.

After noticing irregularities in car title records, the tax commissioner’s office notified the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and state investigators who expanded the investigation, providing new insight to potential abuse of the new system, he said.

McCord said Fountain admitted guilt when she was confronted and she was terminated.

He said his office, which handles more than 500 titles weekly, has added a new layer to its title checking process.

County jail records show Fountain was arrested in September 2015 on one count of theft by conversion and one count of computer forgery. She was released on $10,000 bond Sept. 15, 2015, according to jail records.

This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Former midstate tax office employee charged with theft, falsifying records."