Former inmate steals $2,600 from detention center

Edward Nathaniel Walker, 46, of Santa Barbara, Calif., has been charged with two counts of theft and a theft scheme.

On Sept. 19, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office requested an investigation for unauthorized transactions that were made by a former inmate using the bank account information from the Charles County Detention Center, according to Charles County District Court documents.

Jennifer Ferguson, the inmate accounting special- ist for the detention center, advised Det. Garner that when inmates enter the jail with money, the money is placed into a bank account through the Bank of America. Once the inmate leaves the detention center, the money they came in with is given back to them via a check from the bank account, which like most checks had the account and routing number on it.

Walker, the former inmate, was in the detention center from June 23 to June 25. On June 26, Walker received a check for $256 and cashed it the same day.

Part-time accounting clerk Irene Tarburton of the sheriff’s office’s finance department advised on Sept. 19 that while conducting bank reconciliation, she noticed two unusual transactions posted to the Bank of America account used by the detention center on Aug. 24 and Aug. 28.

The fraudulent charges were for $2,400 paid to LYNX Property Management Inc. and $200 paid to the City of Santa Barbara by Walker. The total value of theft is $2,600.

According to Garner, the fraudulent charges made in August were made using an automated clearing house which allows a person to electronically make payments via phone or computer.

Garner contacted LYNX Property Management Inc. on Sept. 24 and was directed to Jonathan Blakey, who is the on-site property manager for the company. When Garner asked about Walker, Blakey stated Walker rented a property in Santa Barbara and recently made a payment of $2,400.

The payment of $2,400 was made online under the name Ghennet Miltenberger, Walker’s wife, according to Blakey. Blakey stated Walker and Miltenberger moved to Santa Barbara in May 2018 and also advised the $200 payment to the city of Santa Barbara was most likely for utilities through the city.

“The tenants of LYNX Property Management Inc. are able to make rental payments online using their ‘tenant portal’ and money can be paid either by credit card or eCheck, which only requires a valid account number and routing number to make a payment,” Blakey said.

Natalie Uribe, an employee of Santa Barbara Utility and Water, was contacted by Garner on Sept. 24 and verified a payment was made using the bank account linked to the detention center for $200 under Miltenberger.

Walker and Miltenberger had direct access to the sheriff’s office account information used to make fraudulent payments, according court documents. to