Sources interviewed by the FBI told Arkansas Business in January that investigators had been examining more than Shoffner’s financial dealings with bond brokers doing business with the State Treasurer’s Office. They were also delving into allegations she converted political campaign funds to personal income.
Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner has been arrested for extortion by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being held in Pulaski County Jail, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
FBI spokeswoman Kimberly Brunell told the AP that Shoffner was arrested Saturday at her home in Newport and is scheduled for a federal court hearing Monday. Brunell said Shoffner was arrested on charges of “extortion under color of official right.”
Brunell said she would have more details Monday.
The arrest comes four months after Arkansas Business reported that the Democratic state treasurer had been under criminal investigation for more than a year when, on Dec. 14, the Republican-led Legislative Joint Auditing Committee voted to refer an audit of her office to state and federal authorities.
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