Woman accused of stealing nearly $20K from Texas police union, depositing money at Las Vegas bank

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Police suspect a woman stole nearly $20,000 from a Texas police officers’ union by intercepting a check, rewriting one with the same amount in her name, and then depositing it at a Las Vegas bank, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.

Shaqualle Martin, 30, faces charges of burglary of a business, forgery and theft, records said.

On Jan. 6, 2023, Martin allegedly cashed the forged check at a northwest valley ATM, a bank employee told a Clark County grand jury. Martin later withdrew nearly $18,000 from the account.

The treasurer for the Houston Officers’ Union told the grand jury he wrote a check to an oil ranch club in October 2022 for nearly $17,000. The treasurer described the check Martin allegedly cashed as fraudulent and said the copy of the check he saw from the bank had different handwriting.

As part of their investigation, police in Houston discovered a surveillance image, which they said showed Martin holding both the real check and the fraudulent check in her hand. They suspect Martin “intercepted” the check in the mail, documents said.

Police later found Martin’s California driver’s license and a Fresno, California, address for her. It was unclear how exactly investigators believe Martin intercepted the check and where nor why she was in Las Vegas.

During Martin’s initial arraignment in Clark County District Court on Tuesday, Martin’s public defender noted the case was tracked to the wrong department. A new hearing date was not scheduled as of Wednesday.

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