WHEELING — A Martins Ferry man was charged this week with eight counts of felony embezzlement, accused of funneling money into his personal bank account that was supposed to go to the local television station where he worked.

John Arden Lynch II, 40, appeared before Ohio County Magistrate Janine Varner on Tuesday on those eight counts, according to court documents. He was released on $3,000 bond. His next appearance before Varner is scheduled for Dec. 8.

According to the criminal complaint on file at Ohio County Magistrate Court, a Wheeling Police Department officer was called to the offices of WTRF in Wheeling on Oct. 16 by WTRF Vice President and General Manager Jim Dodrill about an embezzlement complaint. According to the criminal complaint, Dodrill told authorities that Lynch, who had recently been fired as WTRF’s web manager, allegedly linked his personal bank account information as the payout method for the TV station’s Facebook monetization account.

Dodrill gave officers 26 remittance documents allegedly showing payments to Lynch from the Facebook account in various amounts, totalling $79,986.62, between Aug. 21, 2023, and Sept. 20, 2025. Sixteen of those transactions allegedly were more than $1,000.

Wheeling police detectives contacted Chase Bank’s law enforcement support unit and verified that the account existed with matching deposits to the documents provided by WTRF. Additional review of the documents allegedly showed that none of the deposited money was transferred to any WTRF accounts, according to the criminal complaint.

After consulting with Wheeling police detectives, the Ohio County Prosecutor’s Office charged Lynch with embezzlement based on eight transactions totalling $29,531.88, made between August 2023 and March 2024.

Neither Dodrill nor Lynch immediately returned messages Friday seeking comment.