A former employee of Mount Airy’s Toyota dealership has been charged with embezzling more than a million dollars from the business.

Pamela Snow Lewis, 62, of 1143 Turkey Ford Road, Dobson, was arrested on nine counts each of embezzling in excess of $100,000.

The case stems from a complaint filed on April 2 by Lewis’ former employers, the owners of Patterson Toyota on North Andy Griffith Parkway. This came after an audit revealed that more than $1 million in money and property allegedly had been taken from the dealership, authorities say.

A lengthy investigation led by Capt. Alan Freeman of the Mount Airy Police Department led to warrants being issued for Lewis, a development that was made public on Thursday.

Freeman said Thursday that Lewis had been employed by Patterson Toyota for about 15 years in an office position that allowed her access to the company’s finances. He indicated that the embezzlement involved an elaborate scheme in which proceeds allegedly were funneled from the dealership into the woman’s personal accounts.

“It went from Patterson’s main account, which she had access to and which she had control (over),” Freeman said. Funds were directed from the dealership’s account “into her own personal accounts, either credit card or bank accounts,” he added.

The police official described the investigation as an intricate process to pinpoint how the alleged embezzlement occurred. “The initial report was filed back in April,” Freeman said. “We met with the owners of Patterson and we’ve been working on it as hard as we can since then.”

Investigators obtained records from “numerous” accounts and “followed the paper trail,” according to the police captain. “It was tedious and it was a long process.” Gradually, enough evidence was gathered to present to the Surry County District Attorney’s Office recently, which led to the embezzlement charges being filed, he said.

When she was arrested, a magistrate set a $100,000 secured bond for Lewis. A spokesman at the Surry County Jail said Thursday that she posted that bond within about 30 minutes.

Lewis is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 21.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.