Woman charged with stealing $460K from employer over 2 years, deputies say

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Montgomery County Precinct 3 constable deputies said they arrested a woman after she stole nearly half a million dollars from her employer.

Court records show that Heather Surratt lived a lavish lifestyle, including luxury clothing purchases, jewelry, her American Express bill, vacations, and more, but all on someone else's dime.

"We received the investigation through the business that had discovered that the theft was occurring; they made a police report," said Montgomery Co. Pct. 3 Captain Adam Acosta.

The company is "Styled Real Estate," and investigators said a detective learned Surratt was the one taking the money.

"He was able to learn that the defendant was taking checks. And I guess they were, my understanding, they were addressed to the company, but she was depositing them in her personal accounts for quite some time," said Captain Acosta.

Court records reveal it was going on from January 2024 to February of this year, and that prosecutors said the total amount deposited into the suspect's account was over $460,000.00.

Video shared with ABC13 shows the moment Surratt was taken into custody earlier this month.

"They've worked hard to establish their business. They have a great reputation here. And so anytime that, you know, something like this is reported to us, we do take it seriously," said Captain Acosta.

The owner of the company, Shelly Scanlin, sent ABC13 a statement, writing in part:

"My goal is to work towards reform in our industry to ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else. Protecting the consumer, realtors, and other brokers from what I've gone through is my top priority."

The suspect has since bonded out. ABC13 attempted to reach out to her but has not received a response.