Chris Mathis, a former Floyd County Magistrate Judge, has been released from Floyd County Jail on a $500,000 bond into the custody of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. He was then released from the Polk County Jail, charged with one count of theft by taking, on $25,000 bond. Mathis is accused of defrauding his alleged victims out of a total of $500,000, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported Friday. He was arrested late Thursday after 27 warrants were issued charging him with multiple theft-related crimes.

Mathis, 45, was charged with the following:

12 warrants for theft by receiving

6 warrants for theft by conversion

2 warrants for theft by deception

2 warrants for exploitation of an elder person

1 warrant for forgery

3 warrants for deposit account fraud

and 1 warrant for damaging, destroying, and secreting property to defraud another

The charges relate to his alleged involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme involving the purchase of cattle, the GBI reported.

There are multiple alleged victims and the thefts ranged from $130,000 to $35,000, according to the arrest warrants.

In some of the cases, Mathis is accused of taking his alleged victims’ money with a promise to purchase cattle but instead converted the funds for his own use.

Some of the alleged incidents happened in 2009 while some reportedly took place earlier this year.

Mathis was arrested at his home by agents from the GBI and Floyd County sheriff’s deputies.

Rome News Tribune