Jessica Coomes Johnson, owner of Cupcake Kisses, was arrested Monday and charged with embezzlement, Detective K.L. Adams, with the Bluefield Police Department, said.

PRINCETON, W.Va. — A cupcake shop owner has been arrested in a mother-daughter embezzlement scheme in which a portion of the stolen money went to fund her bakery, police said Wednesday.

Jessica Coomes Johnson, owner of Cupcake Kisses in West Virginia, was arrested Monday and charged with embezzlement, according to Bluefield (West Virginia) Police Detective K.L. Adams. Johnson’s mother, Roseanna Coomes, 66, of Brushfork, was charged last week with embezzling from Cole Truck Parts in West Virginia.

Adams said Coomes, a 40-year employee of Cole Truck Parts, embezzled more than $1 million from the business over a 10-year period. During this time, Coomes wrote checks to herself, as well as her daughter Jessica Johnson.

Coomes wrote checks totaling more than $54,000 to Johnson during a one-and-a-half-year period, Adams said.

“She (Coomes) was pretty much paying the whole family’s bills with this,” Adams said.

In a criminal complaint by Adams issued in Coomes’ arrest, Adams wrote that Coomes admitted to stealing the money and “was sorry for her actions.”

“Coomes said she did not realize she had taken over $1,000,000 and had every intention of paying back the money she had stolen from Mr. Cole,” the complaint states.

“Coomes could not fully explain where this amount of money could have been spent for the past decade,” Adams also wrote in the complaint. “It was also found that Coomes was paid $52,000 a year for her wages at the job.”

Adams said he also spoke with Johnson, who admitted she received checks from Cole Truck Parts that had been issued by her mother. Johnson also told Adams she thought her mother was going to pay the money back, and that “she was just borrowing the money.”

Johnson used the money for a down payment on a home and to start up her bakery business, Adams said.

In an October 2016, Princeton Times story, Johnson spoke of “working up the courage” to open Cupcake Kisses.

“It was very hard,” Johnson told the Times. “My husband and I both prayed about it and what we should do. Once we did that and really looked at things, it was like everything just fell into place. Business is good, and everything is going well.”

In the earlier Daily Telegraph story on Coomes’ arrest, Adams said Coomes was not “living large,” and did not have “a whole lot of money” in her bank account.

“She’s a little ol’ senior citizen who walks with a cane,” he said. “You never would have guessed it.

In his criminal complaint, Adams said Coomes “has no assets to show for the money stolen, and is not living an extravagant lifestyle. Coomes currently resides in a double-wide trailer … and only possesses moderate personal property.”

Perry writes for the Bluefield, West Virginia Daily Telegraph. 

“Coomes could not fully explain where this amount of money could have been spent for the past decade,” Adams also wrote in the complaint. “It was also found that Coomes was paid $52,000 a year for her wages at the job.” — Detective K.A. Adams, Bluefield Police Department, says in the criminal complaint. 

“Coomes could not fully explain where this amount of money could have been spent for the past decade. It was also found that Coomes was paid $52,000 a year for her wages at the job.” — Detective K.A. Adams, Bluefield Police Department, writes in the criminal complaint.