Former Savannah pastor pleads guilty in church embezzlement case

The Rev. Corey MeGill Brown on Thursday pleaded guilty in federal court in Brunswick to a single mail-fraud charge in the alleged embezzlement of more than $200,000 from Savannah’s Second African Baptist Church where he was senior pastor.

Brown, 47, told U.S. District Chief Judge Lisa Godbey Wood he was pleading guilty to the charge because he was, in fact, guilty.

The count he pleaded to involved a $540 check, dated June 11, 2013, and payable to Second African Baptist Church from Hattie Scott for her June tithe. Scott, who had moved to San Antonio, mailed the tithe through her son, David, according to evidence presented at the hearing.

Brown, who did not inform church officers of the account, largely “created, controlled and used” the account, evidence showed.

As part of Brown’s plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlie Bourne told Wood the government would dismiss the remaining charges in the 64-count indictment. He said prosecutors would not pursue a forfeiture count in the indictment, but that Brown would be held accountable for restitution to the victims for the full sum identified in the indictment.

Several victims appeared in court, but none chose to make any statements during the court session.

Wood accepted the guilty plea and allowed Brown to remain free on his $20,000 unsecured bond pending sentencing at an undetermined date.

Federal probation officers will prepare a presentencing investigation and a recommended sentencing range for Wood’s consideration. While Brown pleaded guilty to only one count, the total criminal activity cited in the indictment may be used in determining his sentencing guidelines.

Bourne indicated the government sentencing recommendation would not exceed 28 months as “appropriate” for the case. Also as part of the plea agreement, the government is suggesting a two-level reduction in the recommended sentencing guidelines because Brown was accepting responsibility for the criminal conduct.

Wood is not bound by either the probation nor the government’s recommendation.

Brown, appearing in court with his attorney Tom Withers, told Wood he had been a pastor at Second African for 16 years. His comments were limited to responses to Wood’s questions.

Brown earlier pleaded not guilty to charges in a second indictment that added 16 counts of money laundering to an earlier indictment for mail and wire fraud.

The change of plea to guilty came just weeks before Brown was scheduled for a jury trial on Dec. 13 before Wood in Savannah.

Bourne said the scheme involved an account that Brown opened at SunTrust Bank in 2005 under the name of “Second African Baptist Church, Roman 12 Ministries” where his was the sole signature.

That account was used to deposit tithes and offerings from church members, many of whom were shut-ins or ill.

Another victim identified in court, “Coach” Floyd Morris, made monthly tithes and offerings in excess of $1,200, which Brown would go by and pick up before depositing them into the Romans 12 account, evidence showed.

Brown would then use that fund for personal items or expenses at Savannah restaurants or businesses. In several instances he deposited some of the funds into his personal accounts or used an ATM to withdraw the money, evidence showed.

Savannah-Chatham police officer Kenneth Whitcomb, who was working with an FBI task force, said a church trustee, armed with documents, “knocked on the door” at the FBI office and tipped off the two-year-long probe.

The indictment, filed in court on May 3, charges that he opened an account in March 2005, without informing church leaders.

Brown would then write checks to himself using the account and spend the funds on personal items, according to the indictment. Purchases listed in the indictment were made from retailers such as Victoria’s Secret, On Time Fashions and the Saddleback Leather Company.

Further, the indictment charges he concealed his activities from church elders, trustees or board members.

Brown had served as a chaplain for the Savannah-Chatham police department from 2010 through 2014, and at one time had an office in the department’s Habersham Street headquarters as the coordinator of that program.

His role as a chaplain ended immediately after the department became aware of the investigation in December 2014, according to police officials in a statement they released.

Parents fight to keep school open despite embezzlement allegations

 Parents and students filled the auditorium of an area charter school Thursday night, fighting to keep the facility open after one of its founders was accused of stealing more than half a million dollars from it.

Parents are frustrated that the Latin Academy, a charter middle school on Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta, is on the verge of closing less than four years after it was founded. Several students presented letters to the school's board of directors, pleading with them to find a way to keep the school operating.

One of the founders of Latin Academy was Christopher Clemons, who also served as the financial director. Clemons is now under investigation, accused by the board of directors of stealing more than $600,000 from the school for personal use.

Clemons has not been charged with a crime. Police began investigating him after administrators reported the missing money, claiming that Clemons and one other employee were the only ones with access to the money.

As a result of the missing funds, Atlanta Public School officials put the school on probation.

During Thursday night's meeting, it was revealed that Latin Academy administrators did not secure enough funding in the form of grants and state funding to keep it operational.

Parents at the meeting were visibly upset and made their frustrations clear.

"You have failed these students, this community and their opportunity and right to social and educational equality," said one man in attendance.

Another attendee of the meeting said school officials are out of touch with parents with students enrolled at the facility.

"Every day, kids of the same color are laying dead in the street, or they're in the news because they're robbing somebody," said the woman. "You don't live on this side of town so you don't see where we come from."

After hearing the public comments, the board of directors decided to postpone the closure vote until next month.

Ex-Salvation Army official pleads guilty to embezzlement

A former Salvation Army finance manager has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $272,000 from the nonprofit.
The office of U.S. Attorney John A. Horn said in a news release Wednesday that 47-year-old Gary Hilliard of Mableton pleaded guilty in an Atlanta federal court to committing embezzlement while he worked for the Salvation Army in metro Atlanta from 2008 to 2012.


Investigators say Hilliard created false invoices and then deposited the fraudulently obtained checks.
Hilliard is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31 before U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May.
According to its website, the Salvation Army serves more than 30 million Americans each year through various programs. Each Christmas season, it raises millions for needy families, seniors and the homeless through its red kettle program.

Church treasurer charged with theft in Georgia

A Georgia woman is under arrest after allegedly stealing more than $93,000 from a Southern Baptist church where she worked.


Gwendolyn Hawthorne, 61, of Marietta, Ga., was arrested Sept. 18 on a warrant alleging that she took $93,744.25 from Crown of Life Community Baptist Church in Powder Springs in Cobb County north of Atlanta. A listing in the Southern Baptist Convention find-a-church database says the congregation was founded in 1994 and has 95 members.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an arrest warrant accused Hawthorne of using her position as chief financial officer to conceal theft from church leaders by falsifying monthly budget reports. She is accused of making 937 fraudulent transactions between March 2007 and February of this year that went undetected until March 17.

She allegedly used the church’s bank card for personal bills, dining at restaurants, shopping and ATM withdrawals including more than $20,000 at various casinos.

Hawthorne was held at the Cobb County Jail on $110,220 bond.

According to Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, church fraud globally is a big business. While most Christians do not steal from their church, the company says, those who do often find easy pickings.

Weeds in the Garden, a certified public accounting and business advisory firm specializing in churches and ministries, conducted surveys finding that only 40 percent of churches had any kind of mechanism for reporting fraud, half lacked a formal information technology security plan and only 25 percent engaged in any form of paycheck verification

Linda Schrenko to be freed from home confinement in Georgia

Linda Schrenko, the former state school superintendent and Columbia County teacher who was found guilty of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal education funding, will be released from home confinement Thursday.

Schrenko served almost six months in home confinement after being released in March from a minimum-security women’s work camp in Coleman, Fla., according to Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke.
Out of safety concerns, Burke could not confirm the location of Schrenko’s home confinement or whether it was a private residence or a halfway house. She will now begin a three-year probation sentence and is required to pay $414,000 in restitution.
Schrenko received an eight-year prison sentence in 2006 for embezzling education funding while working in the state’s highest educational office from 1994 to 2002.
Schrenko and her deputy superintendent, Merle Temple, were found to have diverted more than $600,000 intended for honors students and two schools for the deaf into her unsuccessful 2002 run for governor and plastic surgery, according to previous reports.
Both pleaded guilty, and Temple was sentenced to 97 months in prison.
In addition, South African businessman Stephan Botes was sentenced to 97 months in prison for using his company to funnel some of the embezzled money.

FCHS athletic director busted for theft from sports accounts in Georgia

Fayette County High School Athletic Director Darren A. Handley resigned suddenly earlier this month. The reason became apparent Tuesday when Fayetteville detectives arrested the former assistant principal and charged him with stealing money from the school’s athletic accounts.

Handley was jailed Tuesday on two counts of theft by taking in connection to funds stolen from several of the school’s athletic accounts.

Fayetteville Det. Mike Whitlow said Handley, 48, was charged with two counts of theft by taking fiduciary. Those charges were filed because Georgia does not have a charge for embezzlement, Whitlow added.

Whitlow said detectives received the case in early June when discrepancies were discovered in several athletic accounts at the school for which Handley had responsibility.

Whitlow said investigators currently believe amounts totaling several thousand dollars were stolen.

“He was moving funds from one of the school-related accounts to the other,” Whitlow said of the activity that is thought to have taken place over the past two years. “He oversaw the athletic-related accounts and he moved money from some of those. Eventually, he ended up with the money.”

Whitlow noted that the investigation is ongoing and that, at present, Handley is believed to be the only person involved. Investigators are in process of reviewing documents containing signatures “we don’t believe were signed by those people,” Whitlow added.

Fayette County School System interim Superintendent Dan Colwell on Tuesday said the school system discovered missing funds for which Handley had administrative responsibility.

Colwell said the school system conducted an internal investigation and subsequently turned the matter over to law enforcement.

Handley tendered his resignation earlier this month and it was accepted by the Fayette County Board of Education.

Ex-Ga. PTA president sentenced in embezzlement

The former president of an elementary school PTA and educational foundation has been sentenced to jail and probation for stealing at least $80,000 from the groups.

Fulton County District Attorney's spokeswoman Yvette Jones says 48-year-old Maryam Arjomand pleaded guilty Thursday to forgery and theft by taking.

Jones says Arjomand, of Atlanta, was the president of the E. Rivers Elementary School PTA and the E. Rivers Education foundation. Jones says the money was embezzled from both groups between 2010 and 2012.

Investigators found the money was diverted to an unauthorized account where Arjomand once worked.

Arjomand was sentenced to 10 years in prison and is ordered to serve 90 days in jail. Jones says Arjomand is ordered to serve the rest of her sentence on probation

Canton, Georgia Woman Arrested for Theft from School Organizations

The Cherokee County School District has issued a press release regarding the arrest of a Canton woman who was the former treasurer of the Indian Knoll Elementary PTA in Hickory Flat and the Sequoyah High School Girls Soccer Booster Club in Holly Springs on two counts of theft.
"The Indian Knoll Elementary School PTA and Sequoyah High School Girls Soccer Booster Club alleged financial discrepancies do not involve Cherokee County School District funds or employees," the release says.
According to the school district, when organizations such as the PTA and the booster club feel their finances are out of order, the school district offers assistance. The audit of the Indian Knoll PTA's finances was performed by the state PTA, and the audit of the Sequoyah booster club was performed by a retired accountant.
"The School District appreciates that the local PTA and Booster Club leadership can be relied upon to pursue investigations of inappropriate activities regarding community donations," the school district said.
Additionally, the district expressed its gratitude that the PTA operates inside district schools, as opposed to an independent organization. The national scope of the PTA allows for additional resources to be called in when financial questions arise.
ORIGINAL STORY: A Canton woman who was the former treasurer of the Indian Knoll Elementary PTA in Hickory Flat and the Sequoyah High School Girls Soccer Booster Club in Holly Springs has been arrested and charged with two counts of theft, authorities say.
According to the Cherokee Sheriff's Office, Kim Turman, 40, allegedly stole $12,448.61 from the Indian Knoll PTA between 2011 and 2012. Turman is also suspected of stealing $5,882.51 from the booster club in 2012.
Both organizations allegedly victimized by Turman cooperated fully with the authorities during the investigation into the thefts, the Sheriff's Office said.
Turman has been charged with two counts of felony theft by taking, and was released from the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center Monday evening on a $52,000 bond.

Georgia School officials speeding up takeover of private groups' books

Under the shadow of an unrelated neighborhood embezzlement case, Columbia County’s school board is expected today to increase financial oversight of school organizations.
Currently, the books of roughly 18 out of 49 parent fundraiser groups at 31 schools are still kept by those organizations’ boards, according to school Superintendent Charles Nagle
Officials had planned this summer to start requiring all such groups to run their accounts through each school’s office, Nagle said. The need to complete the transition before the start of next school year sped up that plan, but reports that nearly $200,000 was missing from the Stratford Prop­erty Owners Association added urgency to the policy change, he said.
That includes the Parent-Teacher Organization of Riverside Elementary School, many of whose families live in Stratford.
All of the executive board of the Riverside PTO recently resigned, in part, over friction generated by the pending bookkeeping change, said former PTO President Cyndi Griffin.
“We’ve had a lot of run-ins this year where the parents of the PTO wanted to do things and the principal has not wanted us to,” Griffin said. “The financial situation, the way that came about at the last meeting, that was the last straw.”
At that February PTO board meeting, the members were startled to learn from Principal Judy Bonadio that the system was planning to take over the PTO’s books – meaning the organization would lose its status as a registered nonprofit and with it what members felt was their autonomy.
“Money is power,” Griffin said. “If the parents are in charge of the money, that gives them more power and more say in what’s happening in their children’s education.”
That won’t change under the new system, Bonadio insisted.
“Essentially, all we’re doing is accounting and depositing their money,” she said. “They’re still going to have all the decision-making power they’ve had long-term. The only difference is the money is going to be accounted for and deposited in the bank by the school.”
It’s about accountability, Nagle said.
“Every time somebody has a beef with the PTO president or the booster president, we get calls,” Nagle said. “ ‘Have you checked them? Do you know?’ It’s hard to catch it if they’re not going through our books. And it is a lot of money.”
School board trustee Mike Sleeper, who also is a Stratford resident, said he has fielded plenty of questions over both the neighborhood investigation and general accounting for PTO funds money.
“This all hits home,” he said.
In some cases, it’s not unusual for the money going through a schools’ books to hit more than half a million dollars as things such as major fundraisers and yearbook money mount up, Nagle said. The school system has to account for the money during its annual audit – even if the school system doesn’t have access to the parent group’s books.
“This takes all the questions out of it, because we can give them an official audit,” Nagle said.
Riverside Elementary, where the mass resignation was a surprise, is accepting nominations for new PTO board members, Bonadio said.
“I was a little taken aback,” she said. “I fully expected they would finish out the year. Right now we’re sort of in a holding pattern. We clearly have to get another PTO board elected.”

Former state school chief Linda Schrenko out of prison

Linda Schrenko, the former state school superintendent and Columbia County teacher whose political career was derailed by embezzlement while in office, has been released from federal prison to a halfway house

Schrenko, 63, began transit Wednesday to her new home and will be supervised by Atlanta probation services, said Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke, who wouldn’t release her location out of safety concerns.

The Columbia County Republican served all but about six months of the eight-year prison sentence she received in 2006 for embezzling hundreds of thousands in federal funding from the state Department of Education while working as state superintendent from 1994 to 2002.

After she completes the last months of her sentence in home confinement, Schrenko will serve three years in the federal probation program. She also was ordered to pay $414,888 in restitution.

According to trial testimony in 2006, Schrenko and her deputy superintendent, Merle Temple, funneled money earmarked to help physically disabled children into her failed 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

Temple was to receive a break on his sentence by cooperating with the government, but that deal fell through when Schrenko revealed he was prepared to lie to protect her. They had been having an affair. Schrenko and Temple both pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 97 months on Sept. 12, 2006.

South African businessman Stephan Botes, whose company was used to funnel some of the embezzled money, was convicted and in September 2006 was sentenced to 97 months in prison. Botes’ employee Peter Steyn was acquitted of all criminal charges.

Temple, a political activist in Augusta, has already completed his prison term. He returned to his native Alabama and lives in Birmingham. He has written a book, A Ghostly Shade of Pale, that he is currently promoting.

Embezzlement case stalls against former LaFayette pastor, wife in Georgia

A year and a half after Roger and Christi Morgan were accused of bilking a woman who was in their care out of her life savings, prosecutors haven't gone forward with the case in Georgia.
Prosecutors say they still are investigating claims that Christi Morgan stole at least $165,000 from 64-year-old Jackie Humphrey, a distant relative for whom Christi had power of attorney. Roger Morgan was accused of turning a blind eye as his wife bought their 2,500-square-foot house with cash.
Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Alan Norton wouldn't say what was delaying the case but saidprosecutors hope to be finished in a few months.
The Morgans, who shepherded North LaFayette Baptist Church for six years, have been charged in Hamilton County, as well, and that case is getting closer to a trial date. On Friday, the couple was arraigned and assigned separate attorneys.
In the second case the Morgans are charged with theft over $60,000 on allegations that they used Humphrey's debit card for at least $83,000 in purchases and that their 23-year-old son, Christopher, spent $20,000. Christopher Morgan is charged with theft of property.
All are free on bail.
Humphrey's family claims that the Morgans spent nearly $1.3 million of her life savings over three years as well as selling her house without her permission and getting rid of family heirlooms including her grandmother's wedding ring.
The family has a pending civil suit against Christi Morgan.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigating thousands missing from church accounts

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the possible embezzlement of more than $128,000 from a Baptist church in Lincoln County, law enforcement officials said Friday.

GBI investigating thousands missing from church accounts

Steve Crawford

October 6, 2012 3:07 AM EDT

Copyright 2012 The Augusta Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Double Branches Baptist Church in Lincolnton reported the missing money to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 30, according to an incident report.
The discovery resulted from an internal investigation by church officials into failures to pay a bank note on a church-owned vehicle, the report stated. Officials told police that money was found to be missing from the church’s cemetery fund, its Georgia Baptist Convention fund and other accounts.
They also reported that “a great deal of money” had been used for personal gain and that unauthorized credit cards had been acquired in the church’s name.
A church financial officer has resigned a position he held for 16 years, the report said.
No arrests had been made as of Friday, officials said.
GBI special agent in charge Mike Ayers said the sheriff’s office had turned over the case to his agency. Ayers said he had been waiting on the results of a forensic audit of bank accounts to be completed before proceeding with the investigation. He said that audit was delivered to him Friday.
“We are trying to digest all of this information before moving forward,” he said.
Lincoln County Sheriff Gerald Lawson said that he couldn’t discuss case details but that news of the investigation had begun to ripple through the community.
“This is a big deal here,” Lawson said. “A lot of people are going to be hurt.”

2 UGA employees charged with purchasing-card fraud

FROM http://www.onlineathens.com/  -

University of Georgia police have charged two employees of UGA's College of Education with fraudulently using state-issued purchasing cards.

Laura Cobb Watson, 47, of Statham, was booked into the Clarke County Jail on Wednesday on charges of using state resources for personal gain, theft by conversion, and altering public documents.

Watson was a senior accountant for the College of Education's Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology Department but has since been fired, according to a college spokesman.
Kathy Ingram Knudson, 51, of Watkinsville, is an administrative assistant in the same college department. She surrendered at the jail, where she was booked in on one count of use of state resources for personal gain.
Both women surrendered after UGA police took out warrants for their arrest Wednesday, and they were released after posting bond.
Knudson was on leave from her job at the time of her arrest and had not been fired as of Friday, the college spokesman said.
UGA police Chief Jimmy Williamson was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment.
The department's spokesman, Lt. Eric Dellinger, didn't know details about the alleged crimes, which were reported in May.
"A private vendor from the Athens area noticed a transaction using a UGA purchasing card and felt it was suspicious and reported," Dellinger said, "Our investigation revealed they used state p-cards for the purchase of property for personal gain."
UGA police have arrested several employees for misusing p-cards in recent years.
In one such case, a Terry College of Business secretary embezzled thousands of dollars between 2006 and 2008 by fraudulently using a state-issued purchasing card, UGA police said.
Dellinger didn't know how much money is involved in this case

Man sentenced for embezzlement in Georgia

FROM CHRONICLE.AUGUSTA.COM

For two years, Bernard Walker used fraudulently obtained checks to buy cars -- a Jaguar, a Cadillac, an Audi, a BMW -- then pocketed the extra cash he got back.

He covered his trail in different ways, including writing himself a check out of a church's bank account, but he couldn't escape scrutiny indefinitely.
On Thursday, Walker was sentenced to 33 months in prison, plus three years of supervised release, for embezzling money intended to pay for the meals and snacks of low-income children attending day care centers in 11 Georgia counties. He had been indicted on the federal charges Oct. 14.
Walker had access to the money as the nutrition specialist for the Central Savannah River Area Economic Opportunity Authority, which has headquarters on Greene Street. He worked at the organization for more than 10 years.
"We had no reason to suspect (he was embezzling money)," said Gloria Lewis, the executive director. "He built up a trust as he did his work."
Walker pleaded guilty through a plea bargain three months after his indictment.
"Stealing taxpayers' money that was allocated to buying meals for our children is reprehensible," U.S. Attorney Edward J. Tarver said.
The indictment shows Walker obtained the authority's checks by submitting false invoices from nonexistent vendors. He then used those checks to purchase six vehicles at Top Quality Auto in Waynesboro, Ga., including luxury cars, a Ford Mustang and a Ford Expedition.
In those instances, he gave the dealership checks in excess of the purchasing price and pocketed a check in return. The largest amount he received back was $10,196.44, the indictment showed.
He also bought a $475 rug at Goldberg's Furniture with a $4,634 check and got $4,158 back. In a separate incident, Walker deposited a $4,634 authority check into the bank account of Thankful Baptist Church in Waynesboro, then wrote a check to himself from the church's bank account for $4,632, the indictment stated.
Lewis said new safeguards have been put into place to prevent future theft, but she declined to give specifics. She added that there are policies in place that allow employees to report suspicious behavior without the fear of retaliation.
"We put a lot of trust in (Walker) as an employee, and he just didn't follow through," Lewis said.

Bremen church files theft complaint against ex-employee in Georgia

The Haralson County Sheriff’s office is investigating a local church’s complaint that a former employee allegedly took between $200,000 and $400,000 over a 10-year period.




A press release from the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday, Feb. 8, the Rev. Sidney Garner of Victory Fellowship, 905 Hwy. 27 North, Bremen, filed a complaint against a former member, making accusations of alleged financial fraud. The person in question will not be named until formal charges have been made.



Garner told investigators that he became concerned when a check written using one of the church’s accounts was returned because of insufficient funds.



Victory Fellowship has around 250 members, and Garner said money that was allegedly taken includes church offerings. Garner said that they are working with investigators to find the total amount of money that was allegedly taken, and the church intends to press charges.



“We’ve got 10 years worth of bank records we’ve got to go through and try to determine the exact amount,” Garner said.



According to the release, Sheriff Eddie Mixon said the case will likely be referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and possibly the Federal Bureau of Investigation because some of the allegedly stolen funds were deposited across state lines in an Oxford, Ala., bank. It is too early in the investigation to determine what charges may ultimately be filed, Mixon said.



Read more: Times-Georgian - Bremen church files theft complaint against ex employee

Booster Club Member Under Investigation for Embezzlement in Georgia

A person working with the Douglas County High School football team booster club is under investigation for suspected embezzlement of between $3,500 and $5,000.




Police are waiting for the individual's bank records before an arrest can be made, said Capt. J.R. Davidson, of the Douglasville Police Department.



Davidson said a coach of the football team reported irregularities in the booster club’s funds.



“Once we get (the bank records), we’ll determine if it was a crime and if there’s proof,” he said. “If there is, we’ll make an arrest.”



If arrested, the individual will be charged with felony theft by taking.



Davidson said the bank could take up to two weeks before turning over the records.



According to an e-mail today from Karen Stroud, community relations director of the Douglas County School System, "Alleged accounting irregularities in the Douglas County High School Football Booster Account were reported to then school principal Connie Craft.



"She referred the matter to the Douglasville Police Department since booster clubs and their financial accounts are the responsibility of each booster club and not under the authority or accounting of the school district," Stroud said via e-mail.



Effective Feb. 1, Tim Scott became the principal of Douglas County High School. Craft has been named principal at New Manchester High School which opens in the fall.

Douglasville, Georgia Police Investigating Missing Money From Football Booster Club

Fans of the Douglas County High School football team cheered the Panthers on to a .500 record this year. But off the field is where the team and its supporters may have suffered a real loss.




Douglasville police said thousands of dollars are missing from the coffers of the Douglas County High School Football Booster Club. Many parents said they are shocked.



"I think they need to find out who took the money. That is wrong. If you raised the money, the money should be there regardless," said D Day, a parent with a child at the school.



Players said the team can't survive without the club.



"This year the booster club got us a new speed track machine, some new jersey's, some nice stuff. If the booster club is getting messed with, that could hurt the football team a lot," said Will Gay, a player on the football team.



The booster club is a nonprofit organization that has no official connection to the school or school district. The principal at the high school said she was surprised to hear about the problem.



"Some of the booster club members came to me earlier this year and said they thought there was some irregularities in the accounting. I advised them to make a police report," said Connie Craft, the principal at Douglas County High School.



Douglasville police said between $3,500 and $5,000 is missing. Detectives said they are checking bank records to see what happened to the money.



The team's supporters want something to be done.



"That is money that has been raised. It's like a charity. You are taking away from our kids," said Day.



"That means we got robbed. We raised all that money. That is all our hard work getting stolen from us," said Gay.

Former Bloomingdale, Georgia pastor indicted for stealing from church

A federal grand jury Tuesday indicted the former pastor of New Harvest International Ministries Church in Bloomingdale for embezzling money from his own church.

The indictment alleges Kenneth Terrell, 46, stole at least $200,000 of the church’s money for his own use over a span of four years, said James D. Durham, first assistant U.S. attorney.
Terrell was charged with seven counts of wire fraud. The former pastor faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Durham said the indictment arose after a joint investigation by United States Secret Service Agent William Griffin and Savannah-Chatham Police Detective Raymond Woodberry.
“This defendant is alleged to have used his position as pastor to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for his very own church,” said Edward J. Tarver, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
“The indictment alleges that Terrell systematically took money over at least a four-year period and used it to support a lavish lifestyle.”

Duo admits to taking $450,000 from Columbus, Georgia church

Two women have admitted they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Columbus church.Lalinriafaye Wilson and Nikiena Bowden Rogers pleaded guilty to theft by taking charges Tuesday in Muscogee County Superior Court.According to their plea deal, the women must pay back $450,000 they stole from Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church downtown.Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Frank Jordan sentenced Wilson to 50 years probation, whereas Rogers was sentenced to five years in prison and 45 years probation.According to the state, Nikiena Bowden was a convicted felon when she was hired as a bookkeeper at Fourth Street Church back in 2003.Prosecutors say she embezzled money from her previous employer and told the judge she did the same thing at Fourth Street, allegedly taking church checks and cashing them for herself over a period of two years.Assistant District Attorney David Helmick says she gave some Lalinriafaye Wilson who also allegedly cashed the church checks for herself and her and her husband's church.Helmick says because of Bowden's position in the church, she could cover it up and it wasn't until 2005 when a new bookkeeper was hired that the staff realized the checks and balances were out of whack.
According to prosecutors, close to half a million dollars turned up missing.Wilson's attorney, Frank Martin, says church staff members received monthly financial reports and any misappropriation of funds would have been caught at the get-go.The church's pastor, Reverend JH Flakes Junior took the stand says their books show that checks were stolen and funds were stolen. Flakes says checks were written to Bowden and Wilson in amounts of $2000 and $4000, none of which were authorized by his church.

Connect Rome, Georgia church suspects embezzlement

Pastor Josh Roberts of Connect Rome City Church told Rome police that a former employee allegedly took thousands of dollars of the church’s money and put it into his own account, reports stated. According to a Rome Police Department report:
The church discovered between $20,000 and $30,000 was taken in a five-and-a-half month period after the employee opened a separate nonprofit account and began putting church funds into that account. Roberts told police church leaders learned the employee, who has yet to be charged, also tried to claim that an older laptop was damaged during a church trip and was looking for insurance to pay for it. Rome police officer Michelle Sims said Wednesday the investigation is ongoing.