Rappahannock woman found not guilty of felony embezzlement charges

A jury found Rappahannock resident Tammy Atkins not guilty on three felony counts of embezzlement last Wednesday in the Rappahannock County Circuit Court following a twoday trial.

Atkins, represented by defense attorney Joseph Pricone, was accused of using the company credit cards from her former employer, Amissville-based Henselstone Window & Door Systems and Henselstone Estate, to purchase more than $8,000 worth of personal items like groceries, gas and meals at restaurants.

Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Fisher presided over the case.

Atkins’ defense argued that the company’s credit card policy was unclear on what purchases were permissible and that her actions were not in violation of the employer’s written policy. Pricone also argued that Commonwealth Attorney Art Go was not able to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Atkins was misusing the card by not providing exact receipts of what Atkins purchased.

In May 2021, Atkins was arrested for allegedly embezzling $8,189.14 over a 13-month period. She was charged with three counts of felony embezzlement for three separate periods of time where she was accused of making “excessive” charges on company cards.

In her testimony, Atkins said she “wore many hats” for the family she worked for and believed all the charges she made on the card were allowed under company policy. Her employer said she never authorized most of the purchases Atkins made.

Berkeley von Feilitzch, the vice president of the company, testi ed on Tuesday that Atkins’ job at Henselstone Window & Door Systems was to do general administrative work. Atkins also helped Feilitzch to manage an Airbnb in the county, located on a 200-acre farm property, through her Henselstone Estate company, which is separate from the Henselstone Window & Door Systems.

For both jobs, Feilitzch authorized Atkins to use the company cards to make “reasonable” purchases for the o ce and Airbnb. For the o ce, Feilitzch said Atkins was responsible for using the card to purchase cleaning supplies and food items like co ee, milk and sugar.

She also allowed Atkins to use the cards for gas while she was on the job. She estimated the reasonable monthly cost for those expenses to be about $110.

At Henselstone Estate, where Atkins helped manage the Airbnb, Feilitzch allowed Atkins to purchase basic groceries and cleaning supplies. Atkins was also tasked with cleaning the ve-bedroom home and occasionally feeding the cows located on the property, which she received yearly bonuses for.

Feilitzch read hundreds of charges that Atkins made over 13 months, which included stops at fast food restaurants, grocery stores, car washes and gas stations. Feilitzch said the charges far exceeded what she considered to be reasonable and that Atkins did not have authorization to make those purchases.

Feilitzch said the company credit cards at Henselstone Window & Door System were used by employees who were traveling for work and staying overnight somewhere so they could purchase food and gas. Because Atkins was an o ce manager, she did not travel like the other employees.

Atkins’ defense argued that the same credit card policy applied to everyone who worked at the company, and therefore, Atkins should have been allowed to purchase food and gas like the other employees. Feilitzch said it was an understanding at the company that only employees who were traveling were allowed to use the card for those purposes, but that the policy does not exist in writing.

In her testimony, Atkins said she managed Henselstone Window & Door Systems and their Airbnb on Henselstone Estate and the surrounding farm, which included landscaping, painting and yard work. Atkins agreed to a payment of $200 per cleaning at the Airbnb and 10% of any pro t made through the Airbnb. But because the tourist home never saw a pro t, Atkins was only compensated for the cleaning.

Because of that, Atkins said she thought it was acceptable to buy herself lunch and dinner, saying she felt like she

Atkins’ defense argued that the company’s credit card policy was unclear on what purchases were permissible and that her actions were not in violation of the employer’s written policy.

deserved extra compensation.

Part of Atkins’ job was to input charges made to company cards into a database and correspond those charges with the hard-copy receipts. During the 13-month time period, Feilitzch said she never looked at the credit card statements sent to her by Atkins because she was extremely sick a er having multiple back and intestinal surgeries and trusted Atkins to do the job correctly.

It wasn’t until February 2021 when Feilitzch noticed the hundreds of charges and confronted Atkins, rst putting her on a six-month probation and then ultimately ring her once she realized she made excessive charges on both company cards.

In what Go called an admission of guilt, Atkins sent two emails to Feilitzch apologizing for the credit card charges, writing “it’s on me,” but Atkins said she wasn’t necessarily apologizing for any wrongdoing.

Atkins was convicted of embezzlement in 2013 and spent six months in jail a er stealing more than $6,400 from Clarissa and Eugene Leggett, former mayor of the Town of Washington. Atkins was employed by the Leggets to do various housekeeping jobs.

Feilitzch supported Atkins throughout the 2013 trial and employed her upon her release from jail. Atkins eventually got promoted to o ce manager at Henselstone Window & Door Systems and began helping to manage the Airbnb.

Go and Pricone both declined to comment on the jury’s ruling.