Harris County employee charged with theft in dominatrix blackmail case

A booking photo of Gregory Wayne Lueb, 56, at the Harris County Jail on April 5, 2018. Lueb, a former top ranking employee of the Harris County Treasurer's Office, is charged with felony theft. A booking photo of Gregory Wayne Lueb, 56, at the Harris County Jail on April 5, 2018. Lueb, a former top ranking employee of the Harris County Treasurer's Office, is charged with felony theft. Photo: File/Harris County Sheriff's Office Photo: File/Harris County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Harris County employee charged with theft in dominatrix blackmail case 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

A top administrator at the Harris County Treasurer's Office charged with stealing money from a county credit union told investigators he was using the funds to pay off a dominatrix he met online who was trying to blackmail him, county officials said Friday.

Gregory Wayne Lueb, the second in command at the Harris County Treasurer's Office, is accused of stealing $35,000 in a check-kiting scheme that left the Harris County Credit Union holding the bag for the cash.

Lueb told investigators he met a dominatrix —a woman who punishes men in sexual situations — named "Mistress Cindy" on a sadomasochism website in 2016.

He said the woman blackmailed him into sending her money from his personal account at the credit union by telling him he'd tell his wife of his indiscretions if he didn't.

In announcing the felony theft charges Friday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said "Cindy" may or may not be real, but that Lueb had been arrested for a check fraud scheme that ran between August and December 2016.

"We don't know if the dominatrix exists or not," Ogg said. "The more salacious points are obvious in Mr. Lueb's admissions, but whether they are true or not is really beside the point. We know that he was stealing from Harris County employees because it's our money in the credit union."

Lueb was fired from his position as first assistant treasurer this week and was arrested Thursday. He was being held in the Harris County Jail late Friday in lieu of $1,000 bail.

He is accused of kiting checks — depositing money, then withdrawing it and stopping payment on the deposit — at the Harris County Federal Credit Union.

The self-insured institution is not funded by taxpayers, but Ogg said Friday she is concerned about taxpayer accounts that Lueb was able to access.

"We are sounding the alarm," Ogg said. "Lueb had extraordinary access to the taxpayer dollars of every agency, and this case strongly suggests the need for an independent audit of every account he touched."

Ogg said Lueb was the target of two investigations: one initiated by the DA's office and one begun by the Harris County Sheriff's Office. The two probes were combined when investigators realized both agencies were looking into allegations of fraud that linked back to Lueb.

Ogg called for an audit of the treasurer's office, headed by County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez.

Sanchez said Lueb did not have sole access to county funds. He said well-established safeguards and forms require multiple signatures from different department heads, so he is not worried that Lueb could have embezzled from the treasurer's office.

"No one person in this county has the ability to move a dime," he said. "No one person in Harris County has the authority to move money ... The important thing is there's no public funds (involved, no county money."

Sanchez said Lueb moved to the county treasurer's office three years ago from the county auditor's office, where he began working in 2008. Sanchez said Lueb had a long resume of examining experience with financial institutions and regulatory agencies.

"It's quite a shock to have somebody who is your first assistant be involved in some kind of nefarious, sexually-oriented website where he got involved in some kind of money transferring," Sanchez said. "(Ogg) has not revealed a lot to me because it's still an ongoing investigation."

Court documents filed in the case outline Lueb's involvement with "Mistress Cindy," the woman he said he met on the website collarspace.com.

Court records show Lueb said he was in a submissive relationship and that "Cindy" ordered him to do things. She eventually demanded money, according to the documents.

"He said he was making these withdrawals because he was being blackmailed by a person, a woman, he met on the internet, on a sadomasochism website," said prosecutor John Brewer, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's office financial crimes division.

He said the investigation took several months because of the number of accounts that had to be accessed using grand jury subpoenas.

"It takes a while to get financial records," Brewer said.

If convicted of the state jail felony, Lueb could spend up to two years behind bars.

Ogg said more charges could be filed, depending on the total amount alleged to have been stolen.