A former county official in Northeast Arkansas has been indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple counts of wire fraud.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Cody Hiland's office said in a press release that on December 1, former Craighead County Clerk Jacob Kade Holliday, 32, was indicted by the grand jury. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to 3 years of supervised release.
Hiland's office said Holliday was charge with 11 counts of wire fraud - "one count for each of the 11 transactions he made" between January 29 and June 24, 2020.
During that time, Holliday allegedly took $1.4 million from the county while serving as clerk and deposited it into his personal and business accounts. According to the indictment, Holliday also converted the money into cashier's checks for his own use.
As the County Clerk, Holliday was the official bookkeeper of the county. He was in charge of keeping up with all transactions made by the county. He also was in charge of paying the county's payroll taxes and keeping up with county employees' retirement contributions.
“We take all allegations of undermining public trust very seriously,” Hiland said in a statement. “In this case and in all potential cases, any reports of public corruption will be thoroughly investigated by our office with the help of our law enforcement partners.”
Holliday is expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe J. Volpe for a plea and arraignment on December 17.
The former clerk from Jonesboro also faces multiple lawsuits, including one from the county.