A Duval school employee thought it was strange when she found pageant show-related items under a bookkeeper’s desk over the 2018 summer vacation.
That discovery eventually led to 12 charges being filled against a former school bookkeeper alleging thousands of dollars worth of theft and fraud.
Tamika Martinez-Abihai, 32, a former Duval County Public Schools employee, was arrested last week and charged with seven counts of organized fraud, two counts of petty theft and three counts of grand theft.
Martinez-Abihai, who started working with the district in 2016, most recently worked at Westview K-8. She was fired in May for “job abandonment.”
Raines High School Principal Vincent Hall told detectives her work-style when assigned to his school was “erratic” to the point that he planned to release her. She was transferred to Westview in April 2018.
A call to Martinez-Abihai to her listed cell phone number was answered by a woman who said “no comment,” before hanging up.
According to a police report, it was widely known that Martinez-Abihai owns a dance company and was “always planning pageants and events for her company.”
A Facebook post last year showed Martinez-Abihai competing in the “30 & Older” category of the Ms. Fabulous Woman Pageant.
The year-long investigation conducted by Duval School Board Police revealed the alleged theft of thousands of dollars.
Efforts to reach the school district for comment were unsuccessful.
According to the police report, the alleged fraud — which involved submitting fake invoices to her employer and fraudulently reimbursing herself — had taken place since Oct. 2017.
Martinez-Abihai previously worked at Normandy Village Elementary School and Raines High School.
The former bookkeeper was arrested July 10 and released on bond the following day. She previously was arrested in 2015 for a writ of attachment charge. However, when Martinez-Abihai applied to work with Duval schools, she reportedly responded “no,” when asked if she had ever been arrested before.