FLINT, Texas (KETK) – A Winona man was arrested in early November and is accused of creating multiple fake businesses in order to steal money from the company he was working for.

According to a warrant, Andrew Boaz, 35, is accused of stealing a total of $85,979.29 from Nautical Mile Marine, a boat dealership where he had been employed for over nine years.

The missing funds were discovered in October, according to the warrant, after a manager noticed an unfamiliar recurring charge to “Boat Parts Online” in the company’s credit card statements.

“I asked my employee Andrew Boaz if he would look into this vendor and see if I was simply missing something and had overlooked this vendor,” the manager said in a statement to the sheriff’s office. “He did not report back to me that day.”

According to the warrant, a few employees were discussing the charges the next week trying to figure out what was going on when Boaz, who worked in the parts department, said he had to leave.

When asked if everything was okay, Boaz reportedly said “yes, I just need to go.” The next day Boaz told his manager he could not come in for personal reasons.

The manager said in his statement Boaz’s behavior made them suspicious. Another employee noticed Boaz had left his Yahoo email open, and after a search found charges from the company’s credit card that allegedly matched statements to Boat Parts Online, a company that other employees said could not be found online.

The warrant said Boaz confessed to using the company credit card for two years, and paid money from the company credit card to three fake accounts: Marine Parts, Boat Parts Online and Hughes Online Marine.

In an interview with investigators, Boaz reportedly said he was very remorseful and had no idea how much money he stole but that all of the money is gone.

“He got a DWI in February 2022 and that caused financial problems,” an investigator said in the warrant.

In a statement from the Nautical Mile Marine owner, Boaz also ordered parts from the company’s common vendors and had the parts shipped to his house in addition to the fraudulent credit card charges.

“We have found reference to his mobile home business called Lone Star Mobile Marine which leads me to believe he was operating a business with my stolen inventory,” the owner said. “I also suspect he took tens of thousands of dollars in items from our facility to do the same.”

According to the warrant, the owner offered to not press charges against Boaz if he would pay the money back. Boaz agreed to the terms, but according to the warrant, did not follow through on his promise to pay back the money.

Boaz was arrested on Nov. 18 for felony theft and bailed out of jail the next day. His bail was set at the same amount of money the investigation determined to have been stolen by Boaz using the company credit card.