SHREVEPORT- A Shreveport bookkeeper has been arrested for stealing nearly a half million dollars from her employer.

Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator says 55-year-old Laurie Johnson was arrested Thursday on a theft charge. She's being held at the Caddo Correctional Center. Jail records did not indicate if she had an attorney.

Johnson was an employee of the Greater Shreveport Bossier Auto Auction when she began stealing deposits from money the business took in on auction days. Johnson is accused of stealing $459,540 between 2011 and 2017.

The sheriff's office says she used her position as bookkeeper to manipulate the company's accounting software to conceal her thefts. She also is accused of helping conceal thefts by another employee.

The thefts were discovered during an audit by a new company accountant.