A bookkeeper is accused of stealing more than $70,000 from an Oak Harbor construction company.

Prosecutors charged Betty J. Boatman, 40, in Island County Superior Court March 2 with one count of first-degree theft, three counts of identity theft in the first degree and one count of identity theft in the second degree.

The co-owner of Valdez Construction reported to police last fall that an audit revealed discrepancies between actual bank records and copies on file going back several years.

The owners said they suspected that checks were forged and electronic direct deposit payroll amounts altered; check amounts to vendors were also allegedly altered to appear as though more money was paid out, thus making the books appear to balance, according to the report by Lt. Mike Hawley with the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

Hawley also found that Boatman had allegedly made hundreds of unauthorized purchases with the company’s Visa credit card.

In all, Hawley said an investigation found that $72,000 may have been stolen between September 2014 to August 2015.

Hawley arrested Boatman on suspicion of theft last fall. She declined to be interviewed by the police but told Hawley that her boyfriend was not involved, the report states.