Iowa City Budget rental manager charged with stealing over $50,000 from business

A Solon woman was arrested Monday on charges that she stole more than $50,000 from Budget car rental in Iowa City, where she worked as a manager, by altering rental agreements and receiving payments on her personal accounts.

Barbara Lynn Ray, 51, is charged with providing false information regarding a financial transaction, first-degree fraudulent practice, money laundering and first-degree theft.

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According to criminal complaints, Ray regularly altered or voided rental agreements for the company to hide them in the business’ records. Between Jan. 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024, when she worked as a manager at Budget, she manipulated 466 transactions, which caused a loss of $187,184.16 for the car rental company.

Search warrants for Ray’s personal accounts on apps like Cash App and Chime Financial showed that during that time she was receiving payments in her personal accounts for vehicle rentals. Between January 2023 and June 2024, she received $50,141.08 in personal payments to her Cash App for company rentals. After receiving money in the transfer apps, she would cash it out to her personal banking accounts, or use it on personal transactions, which made the total amount of money stolen difficult to track, the complaint states.

A warrant was issued April 14 for Ray’s arrest, and she was arrested Monday. She had her first appearance in court Tuesday and was being held in the Johnson County Jail on a $40,000 bail.

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