Former Montgomery County deputy trustee charged with theft, forgery

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A former deputy clerk with the Montgomery County Trustee’s Office has been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $12,000 from taxpayers during her time in office.

Booking records show that Debra Kay Kraniak was arrested Tuesday, July 17 and charged with 13 counts of forgery and one count of theft of property. Her bond was set at $15,000.

Kraniak’s May 2018 indictment by a grand jury, obtained by ClarksvilleNow, alleges that she “unlawfully did make entries in the Montgomery County real property tax records with intent to defraud or harm another.” Each of the 13 counts of forgery names a different property within the county.

Assistant District Attorney General Robert Nash confirmed to ClarksvilleNow that Kraniak was indeed the former employee who has been arrested and charged, but could not comment further because the incident is still under investigation.

According to an audit released by the TN Comptroller’s Office in February, the deputy clerk (who was not named in the original press release), voided nine property tax receipts totaling $12,461 and stole the cash between January 25, 2016 and December 22, 2017.

The theft was first discovered by the Trustee’s Office on December 22, 2017 when a taxpayer visited the office to verify that his 2017 property tax payment had been received; however, the property taxes were not reflected as paid. The taxpayer then presented a receipt showing his payment had been made with cash.

The audit says that to conceal the thefts, the deputy clerk temporarily changed the mailing address for these properties to her personal address, so any delinquent tax notices would be mailed to her instead of the taxpayer.

The employee was fired after admitting to the theft. The Trustee’s Office also contacted the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

The Comptroller’s Office has confirmed the entire $12,461 has been repaid to the Trustee’s Office. The former deputy clerk repaid $3,749 and Montgomery County Trustee Brenda Radford paid $8,712 from her personal funds to liquidate the cash shortage.