A woman from Springfield is accused of making nearly $16,000 worth of personal purchases on a credit card belonging to her employer. A detective says the purchases were made between December 2015 and December 2016 while Sarah Symns was an executive assistant to Lynn Morris, one of the owners of Family Pharmacy, a chain of stores based in Ozark.

Christian County prosecutors charged Symns, 29, with 17 crimes on Tuesday. The first six charges are for fraudulent use of a credit card; the last 11 charges are for forgery.

The probable cause statement used as the basis of the charges says Morris hired Symns as his executive assistant in September 2015. He gave her a Visa company credit card three months later “to obtain meals for meetings and sometimes supplies for the office,” the detective’s probable cause statement says. “The only people who could authorize her to use the card were the owners and vice president of the company.”

The owners got suspicious when they noticed Symns’ credit card balance “was extremely high” and she hadn’t provided receipts for her purchases.

“Therefore in October 2016, the vice president talked with Sarah about her expenditures, due to her charges being $2,460.43 and not turning in her receipts,” the probable cause statement says. “In December 2016, it was discovered Sarah’s total amount was $7,277.21. There was a ‘counseling session’ with Sarah. During this meeting, Sarah gave back the card . . . Sarah also admitted to two transactions which she had ‘accidentally’ used the card on. She stated those transactions were a hair appointment (in Springfield) and her utilities (online transaction).

“Sarah signed the counseling form, indicating she would be suspended without pay until she could provide receipts for all of her transactions. (Notably, Sarah never repaid the two transactions she ‘accidentally’ used the card on and never notified management that she did so.),” the probable cause statement says.

An Ozark Police detective says an examination of the credit card purchases found personal purchases of about $12,600 at Walmart stores in Springfield and Ozark, $660 for YMCA fees, about $625 at Hobby Lobby in Springfield, nearly $500 at Bath and Body Works in Springfield, and hundreds of dollars for utility bills, online computer programs, cable TV, hair styling, event tickets, home improvement items, gasoline, and car washes. The probable cause statement said the personal purchases totaled $15,918.13.

If Symns is convicted, she could face prison sentences up to seven years for each count of fraudulent use of a credit card and between three and 10 years for each count of forgery. After the warrant for her arrest is served, she’ll have to post a $15,000 bond to get out of jail.