Sanford, North Carolina woman charged in church embezzlement

The president of a women's organization at a Lee County church is accused of stealing about $2,000 from the group's coffers, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.




Catherine Michelle Speagle, 38, of Badders Road, was charged Tuesday with embezzlement, according to Lt. Van Holly.



Speagle is accused of taking the money from the Jones Chapel United Methodist Church group between February and September 2010, Holly said.



The church learned of the missing money after an audit that was done in November, Holly said.



"They (church leaders) realized money was being taken out of an account without any receipt or explanation of where the money was going," Holly said.



Church leaders asked Speagle for an explanation, but she could not produce any receipts or documentation, he said.



"She said some of the money, she claims to have given on behalf of the church to charitable organizations," Holly said.



Church leaders contacted the groups only to learn that no donations from Jones Chapel had been received, according to Holly.



Investigators were able to account for about $300 of the missing money, Holly said.



Speagle, who is unemployed, had already been sentenced to 24 months of probation in August on an unrelated charge of obtaining property by false pretense and embezzlement, according to records from the N.C. Department of Correction.



Those charges were filed in April by the Sanford Police Department, a spokesman there said.



Speagle's bail was set at $25,000