SAN ANTONIO – A human resources manager with Texas A&M University-San Antonio resigned this spring after school officials began looking into her potentially fraudulent use of a university credit card, internal records obtained by TheTXLoop Investigates show.
Christina Gomez, 44, resigned, effective immediately, on March 31, weeks after A&M-San Antonio leadership placed her on administrative leave.
A subsequent review by the Texas A&M University System’s chief auditor determined Gomez made 211 potentially fraudulent purchases with the card between October 2023 and February 2025.
In all, officials identified questionable purchases by Gomez totaling $70,135:
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$63,185 makes up the 211 potentially fraudulent charges
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$6,950 worth of purchases without receipts or back-up documentation
The $6,950 charged without receipts was still being analyzed at the time the review was completed, records show.
“It’s a substantial amount for a university,” said Willie Ng, a former San Antonio Police Department white collar crimes detective.
Ng is not associated with investigating this case.
“It is surprising. Usually, we find this issue with private entities, private companies, where they don’t have all the checks and balances and are kind of just winging it as they go and creating policies as things like this happen,” Ng said. “A large university, such as this one here, I’m surprised that they didn’t have better checks and balances.”
Records: Gomez used digital signature, coworker’s login credentials to approve her own expense reports
The credit card charges flagged by the university system were made at H-E-B stores in San Antonio and College Station as well as multiple Walmart locations in San Antonio, Helotes, College Station and Corpus Christi, records show.
No charge exceeded $500.89, but Gomez’s card was used at Walmart three times in a single day in July 2024, according to records.
Gomez, who did not respond to a request for comment from TheTXLoop left at her last listed address, admitted that personal purchases were included in her expense reports, the auditor’s review states.
Instead of turning in receipts for what she purchased, Gomez used the digital signature of her coworker on lost receipt forms without that person’s knowledge, and then used a coworker’s login credentials to approve her own expense reports, records show.
The review determined Gomez violated policies covering the use of system resources, information security, IT standards and procurement card guidelines.
Two other A&M-San Antonio employees were named in the auditor’s review, but the university redacted their names before the records were released to TheTXLoop.
One of the employees was found to have violated university rules on information security and IT standards. It is unclear if that employee faced any discipline from the university.
TAMU-SA Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Martha Gonzalez did not respond to multiple emails from TheTXLoop Investigates about the case.
A TAMU-SA spokesperson told TheTXLoop via email:
“We hold all members of our community to the highest standards of integrity,” the school spokesperson wrote. “When concerns are raised about any potential violations, we take them seriously and act promptly in accordance with our policies and procedures. Our commitment remains firmly focused on protecting the interests of our students and upholding the values of our institution.”
A&M-San Antonio President Dr. Salvador Hector Ochoa informed the chief auditor in early May that the school had identified nine corrective actions to take to prevent this from happening again.
The items include making Gomez ineligible to be rehired within the Texas A&M University System and introducing additional training for account managers.
Ng says a potential criminal case should be handed off to a larger agency
The investigation of Gomez was forwarded by university officials to its police department on March 31, the same day Gomez resigned.
Gomez, who has not been criminally charged, is under investigation for forgery and credit card abuse, an incident report obtained by TheTXLoop Investigates shows.
The investigation is pending, according to the latest update provided by A&M-San Antonio officials.
“Once you start peeling back the onion and you start doing an investigation and looking at other receipts or paperwork and documents that were submitted, then we start to find there was more to it than what’s present at first,” said Ng.
Ng told TheTXLoop the case, due to its complexity, should be handed off by A&M-San Antonio police to a larger law enforcement agency, such as SAPD or the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Ng also said it would be better suited if it were investigated as a possible misappropriation of funds.
“You don’t want the perception of wanting it to go south to save face because you failed to have the proper procedures in place,” Ng said.
An A&M-San Antonio police supervisor who emerged from the department’s portable building declined to discuss the case with TheTXLoop and instead referred inquiries about the progress of the investigation to the university’s communications department.
Officials with SAPD and BCSO told TheTXLoop they had no record of the investigation in their case management system.
Read more reporting on the TheTXLoop Investigates page.
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