Affidavit details alleged theft by former fire department and band booster treasurer

The arrest affidavit of a Hemphill woman contains details about the alleged theft of money when she was treasurer of both a fire department and a band boosters organization in Sabine County. Samantha Jo Hill, 40, was recently arrested and charged with four crimes, and her bond was set at a combined total of $80,000.00. Charges filed against Hill were; Money Laundering (less than $30k), Misappropriation of Fiduciary/Financial Property (less than $30k), Theft of Property (less than $30k), and Forgery of a Financial Instrument. The charges followed an investigation into suspicious financial activity when Hill served as treasurer of both the Pendleton Harbor Volunteer Fire Department and the Hemphill High School Band Boosters. According to the arrest affidavit, bank records showed that approximately $29,800.00 dollars was transferred from the fire department’s bank account into a PayPal account. The affidavit says the following day, exactly $28,000.00 was withdrawn from the PayPal account. The affidavit went on to say that investigators then met with the new treasurer of the fire department and that person told them that when she discovered the transfer of money, she contacted PayPal and they told her that she couldn’t make any changes to the PayPal account because it was set up as a private account under Samantha Jo Hill’s name, although the account used the fire department’s email address. The affidavit said that the new treasurer then met with Hill and requested access to the PayPal account, but she was told by Hill that she was not going to give anyone access to the account because she - the new treasurer - could not prove where any of the funds went. The affidavit went on to that the investigation is continuing, including a financial forensic investigation into Hill’s personal bank account.