Economic Development Watch: this week's embezzlement scandal

The State:

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities have accused a 64-year-old clerk of a rural South Carolina town with stealing more than $35,000.

State Law Enforcement Division officials said Patricia Fowler was arrested Tuesday and charged with embezzlement of public funds. The town clerk is accused of taking $35,734 since March.

SLED records show she has no criminal history.

A message left on Fowler's home voice mail was not immediately returned. It was unclear if she had a lawyer.

Though SLED directed media to the Barnwell County Detention Center for a booking photo, a woman answering the phone there said the jail had no record of Fowler.

Williston is about 50 miles south of Columbia, with a population of about 3,300.