A secretary for Hall County’s University of Georgia Extension Service office was arrested Friday on charges of embezzling $52,000 from the office, authorities said.

Doris Faye Beck, 46, was booked into the Hall County jail Friday morning on seven counts of forgery, eight counts of theft by taking and 18 counts of evidence tampering, Hall County Sheriff’s Maj. Jeff Strickland said.

UGA Police Lt. Lisa Boone said Beck was employed as a secretary at the office and used her position to write checks out to herself totaling $52,236.80.

Boone said the thefts occurred in 2006.

Beck allegedly tampered with financial documents in order to cover up the thefts, Boone said.

Boone said an audit was performed after someone in the Hall County office noted discrepancies.

Hall County Extension Service Coordinator Billy Skaggs said in a statement, "upon recent discovery of financial discrepancies we investigated the matter according to University of Georgia policies and procedures. After our initial investigation we immediately turned the matter over to the University of Georgia police department. It is now a police matter, and any further information will come from the University of Georgia police department."

A UGA police log noted a theft from the Hall County extension service office on March 13 at 3 p.m., according to public records.

Skaggs said he could not answer any questions about Beck, including how long she had been employed at the office and what her duties were.

Northeast Georgia District Extension Service Director John Parks also deferred all questions to police.