In a major public corruption case, Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk Tamara Sawyer has been indicted on six counts by a federal grand jury. The indictment was made public today by Western District of Tennessee United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant.
Sawyer allegedly embezzled, misappropriated, and deliberately transferred $44,607.35 in public monies to her personal use, according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, Sawyer used procurement cards to pay for a variety of personal expenses for herself and other people, such as food, drink, and merchandise, as well as charges at bars, hotels, restaurants, the Memphis Tigers, FedEx Forum, Turo, local fundraisers, and payments to multiple PayPal accounts, including her own.
“The indictment further alleges that Sawyer also used the procurement cards as part of a money‑laundering scheme. She transferred stolen funds to a PayPal account controlled by a friend, who kept a small portion and returned the remainder to Sawyer through CashApp,” according to the official statement release.
