A Clinton woman faces fraud charges in two counties for allegedly stealing a combined $400,000-plus from her employer, the owner of a pair of storage businesses.

Amanda Lyn Adams, 34, allegedly diverted more than $323,000 from a Syracuse business and more than $82,000 from another in West Haven, according to charging documents. Adams managed both storage sites.

In the Davis County case, filed in March, Adams is charged with second-degree felony communications fraud and third-degree felony obstructing justice. Syracuse Police Department charging documents said the business owner discovered in December that Adams allegedly had embezzled since May 2017, shortly after she was hired.

The affidavit said a customer contacted the owner saying that Adams had offered a large discount on monthly storage unit fees if they paid for several months in a cash lump sum. The owner contacted other customers who allegedly had similar deals from Adams. He told police that entries in the business’s account management software had been coded to show payment in full when no payments actually had been recorded.

The business owner gave police an audio recording of a meeting he had with Adams when she came in to clean out her desk after he told her she was fired. On the recording, Adams allegedly admitted to taking cash payments from customers and doctoring receipts in the business system.

Adams allegedly told the owner she had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, that she had only six months to live and that she had been using the money to pay for treatments.

Police tried to track the allegedly stolen money, but “it appears that she has liquidated or otherwise transferred the assets to avoid detection,” charging documents alleged. Police asked a judge to order Adams to be held without bail because she allegedly had avoided detectives’ efforts to talk to her and that she had traveled to Mexico after an initial contact with police.

Davis County Jail records showed Adams was booked on March 21 and released pending court appearances, with pretrial conditions in effect, including the surrender of her passport.

Meanwhile, the Weber County Attorney’s Office in April charged Adams with two counts of second-degree felony communications fraud related to alleged embezzlement at a West Haven storage business.

Charging documents by the Weber County Sheriff’s Office said an audit ordered by the owner discovered Adams allegedly used similar methods to those in the Syracuse case. The West Haven losses occurred in 2020 and 2021, the documents said.

Efforts to reach Kurt Helgesen, Adams’ attorney, were not immediately successful.

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