BOZEMAN — A Bozeman man is facing felony theft charges after his employer, a local tile company, discovered that the man had his own tile company and was reportedly ordering materials on the company account, but delivering and installing the tile himself and then collecting payment personally.
The man was arrested on Thursday and was held without bond after the arrest. He invoked his right to counsel and declined an interview with investigators.
According to charging documents, the employee allegedly ordered $5,802.59 for one project, then collected payment for himself. He also gave himself unauthorized discounts in 2025, totaling just over $300. He also gave customers unauthorized discounts in October 2025 of $1,526.84.
Investigators found evidence that the employee also allegedly deleted invoices and estimates to conceal theft, along with missing receipts and a deleted invoice.
In the case of one project, the customer made payments totaling $18,665.47 between August and December 2025. The customer's credit card statements show charges to both the tile company and the employee's business. Only one charge clearly went to the tile store, 2,285.77, but more than $16,000 went to the defendant's business.
In November 2025, an employee of the tile company reportedly witnessed the defendant loading his personal vehicle with materials. She then found that the material was never marked "received" and the customer was never billed. She reported the incident to the owner of the tile company, who then uncovered the scheme after noticing profit discrepancies.
