Community rallies to support YEPAW after alleged embezzlement

The youth arts organization YEPAW has long shared the message that God can help people overcome anything.

Now it’s showing that it takes that message to heart.

In the wake of accusations that a former administrator stole more than $97,000 from the program, YEPAW leaders and supporters took the microphone at a community rally Sunday to promise the organization would prevail.

And the young performers underscored that message with their voices.

“Oh, how wonderful it is, Jesus promised he’ll take care of me,” sang about 60 teenage choir members in the opening number. Their joyful voices reverberated in the circular sanctuary of West Akron’s Mount Calvary Baptist Church. Many in the audience rose to their feet, swaying, clapping and singing along.

YEPAW — Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop — is both a performing arts and mentoring program. It uses the arts to engage middle and high school youth while it helps them build life skills and encourages them to pursue excellence, said its founder and artistic director, the Rev. Leslie Parker Barnes.

Last month its former executive director, Alexandra (Wright) Thomas, was charged with identity fraud and theft for allegedly opening a credit card account in Barnes’ name to siphon money from the organization.

Community members filled the sanctuary for Sunday’s rally to encourage the young people with their presence and donations. They cheered the performance, tossed money into offering baskets and purchased T-shirts bearing the hashtag message, #YEPAWSTRONG.

The event was a fundraiser, but it had a greater purpose, Barnes said before the rally.

“More than anything, [the purpose is] to charge these young people and tell them they are amazing,” she said. “Dreams really do come true.”

The alleged theft was never mentioned directly during the event, but the message was clear: YEPAW is determined to overcome the financial setback.

“The leadership is still strong. No question about it, God’s hand is still strong,” Kyle Earley, a minister at the church, told the spirited crowd. “Nothing can stop them, because God has already blessed them.”

The rally had a feeling of celebration, and the emphasis was on the impact YEPAW makes in its young participants’ lives. “I don’t know where I’d be,” one young member said in a short video shown during the rally.

The biggest ovation of the night went to Barnes, who is recovering from a fractured ankle and spoke from a wheelchair.

She promised YEPAW would continue to build on its mission of instilling purpose in young people and turning them into leaders.

“I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that YEPAW is the Lord’s,” she said, her voice rising above the applause. “He started it, and he’s gonna finish it.”

A Believing the Dream Campaign has been started on the crowd-funding website Go Fund Me to collect donations in support of YEPAW. Contributions can be made at www.gofundme.com/YEPAW.

Former church treasurer spent embezzled money on escorts, porn & drugs, judge says

 A former church treasurer spent hundreds of thousands of dollars he embezzled on a life of excess, including drugs, pornography and escorts, according to a Butler County judge.

Garry D. Meyer, 61, previously pleaded guilty to aggravated theft. He was sentenced Monday to five years in prison, the Journal-News reported.

Initially, a police report indicated, about $400,000 was stolen from Tri-County Baptist Church. But that amount eventually rose to more than $800,000, the Journal-News reported, which meant Meyer was indicted in December on a second-degree felony.


Garry Meyer
Meyer stole the money over the course of about 14 years, according to the indictment.

Tri-County Baptist's senior pastor, Brian McManus, said Meyer called him and confessed in October. At Monday's sentencing, McManus said Meyer's confession came only after his wife found out what he'd been doing.

Prosecutors said Meyer spent the money on his frequent trips to Florida, which, according to Judge Michael Oster, included cars, credit cards, porn, drugs and "high-end escorts," the Journal-News reported.

Meyer's wife began sobbing when her husband spoke to Oster before sentencing.

He told the court there was no excuse for what he'd done, then told his wife: "I am sorry for betraying your trust … you have always been the best part of my life."

McManus said Meyer's embezzlement hurt not only the congregation, but also more than 100 missionaries. The former treasurer vowed to work on fixing the relationships he'd destroyed, the Journal-News reported.

West Covina parent accused of embezzling from PTA, Girl Scouts and Little League

A West Covina woman was arrested earlier this month after allegedly embezzling more than $78,000 from the PTA at her daughter’s school, a Girl Scouts troop and the West Covina American Little League, authorities said Monday afternoon.

Veronica Paderez, 37, was arrested on Feb. 4 and booked on suspicion of grand theft after detectives from the West Covina Police Department received reports she stole money from the PTA at Vine Elementary School, said West Covina police spokesman Rudy Lopez.

Paderez had been involved with the PTA since 2014 and had access to the association’s bank accounts. According to the school’s website, Paderez served as the group’s treasurer during the 2014-15 academic year.

A preliminary audit revealed the loss of more than $52,000 from several fraudulent transactions, Lopez said.

Further investigation revealed that Paderez was also involved in the finances belonging to the West Covina American Little League and Girl Scout Troop #4754, Lopez said. The youth baseball group has reported more than $26,000 in losses. Detectives are still trying to determine the exact loss incurred by the Girl Scouts.

Lopez said Paderez’s daughter is in the Girl Scout troop and that an older son participates in Little League.

According to online booking records, Paderez posted $85,000 for her bail the night of her arrest.

No charges have been filed.

Paderez did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Girl Scout leaders accused of embezzlement appear in court in West Virginia

Two Parkersburg women accused of embezzling girl scout funds appeared in Wood County court Tuesday. Denise Davis and Mary Farnsworth were indicted for embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a felony.

The former troop leaders allegedly took a trip to Disney World, Sea World and an Everglades Cruise with the stolen money.

Tuesday a plea deal was to be entered by both defendants in which they agreed to pay back $2,500 with all charges dropped and no admission of guilt.

MariJo Tedesco, a former employee of the Black Diamond Council, took the stand to convince the judge to look at the case again and reconsider the plea deal.

"Not once has anyone expressed concern for the girls that were used for the profit of those that were supposed to protect and nurture them. Girl Scouts are supposed to empower girls and make responsible, honest and productive adults of the girls involved. What are we teaching the girls and society as a whole if people in positions of authority are allowed to abuse their privileges over the span of years and endure no consequence for it," says Tedesco.

Judge Beane agrees to look at the case again and will have both parties submit statements to probation and probation will submit a complete report to the judge. If the judge rejects it, defendants will have to enter a plea.

Greek Orthodox priest pleads guilty to church embezzlement

A Greek Orthodox priest pleaded guilty Monday to embezzling more than $100,000 from his former parish in Wauwatosa, but under a deferred prosecution deal he will get only a misdemeanor conviction if he stays out of trouble for a year.

Neither the Rev. James Dokos nor his attorneys, Patrick Knight and Franklyn Gimbel, made any comment after a hearing before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Conen.

Dokos, 63, of Chicago, was charged in 2014 with using about $100,000 intended for Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church for lavish dinners, jewelry for his wife and everyday expenses. He had been the pastor at the church about 20 years.

By the time he was charged, Dokos had already been transferred to Sts. Peter and Paul in Glenview, Ill., one of the largest and most affluent Greek Orthodox churches in the Chicago area.

Theft in a business setting of more than $10,000 — which is a felony — carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, plus five years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine. But Conen agreed to withhold entry of judgment, and if Dokos meets various reporting and community service requirements, in a year Conen will instead enter judgment for misdemeanor theft. As part of the agreement, Assistant District Attorney David Robles said he will recommend an unspecified fine at that time.

Robles also told Conen that he met earlier in the month with members of Annunciation to explain the agreement and take questions. He said Dokos has already paid restitution of more than $10,000, and that the plea settles all known criminal and civil actions arising from Dokos' conduct.

George Karcazes, a longtime member and volunteer in the Glenview parish, attended Monday's hearing.

"The biggest reason this is an insult," he said afterward, "is the bishop tried to get him off." Karcazes was referring to a letter sent, under seal, to Conen. Karcazes, a lawyer, said he planned to seek to have the letter unsealed.

He said for two years after news broke of Dokos' criminal charges in Wisconsin, some 40 families left the Chicago-area parish, and stewardship dropped $250,000.

Dokos was eventually suspended as pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul, but he remains a priest in good standing. Karcazes said he gets assigned to help out as needed at other Chicago area parishes.

Some of the money Dokos took from a trust intended to benefit Annunciation Church went to Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, the No. 2 official in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, to which the Wauwatosa church belongs.

Karcazes said that when the Sts. Peter and Paul parish council president asked Metropolis officials to put Dokos on leave during the criminal case, he was instead removed from his position.

According to the criminal complaint against Dokos:

The theft was discovered by Annunciation's parish council in 2013, months after Dokos had transferred to Glenview. From 2008 to 2012, he diverted money from a trust a couple had left for the construction of a cultural center at the church while he was serving as successor trustee after the death of the trust's creator.

Ervin and Margaret Franczak created the trust in 1984. In 2004, Margaret Franczak, as the surviving trustee, named Dokos her successor. The last of several amendments to the trust occurred in 2007. Upon Margaret Franczak's death, Dokos was to get $5,000, a car and any property of the trust.

Twenty thousand dollars was to go to three charities, and all the rest to the church for a cultural center.

Margaret died in 2008. Dokos turned over $1.1 million to the church. But investigation revealed money remained in the trust, the complaint says, and Dokos had changed the address on the trust's bank account to his home in 2008.

Over the following years, according to the complaint, Dokos wrote checks for more than $110,000 for "clearly personal expenditures," such as gifts to his daughter, his cable bill, medical expenses, $5,000 for jewelry for Dokos' wife, trips and credit card bills.

Former Fire Official Indicted On Embezzlement Charges

Former Lincolnton Fire Department Assistant Chief William Vernon Fortenberry has been indicted on embezzlement charges. According to the North Carolina Court System website, Fortenberry has been indicted on nine felony counts of embezzlement.

According to various published reports, authorities confirm that Fortenberry, who is 50-years-old, was charged with four counts of embezzlement in connection with funds missing from the Lincoln County chapter of the North Carolina Burned Children Fund in addition to five counts of embezzlement connected to funds missing from Pisgah United Methodist Church in Lincolnton.

The investigation was reportedly conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation. Authorities say the probe focused on allegations that Fortenberry, who had held the position of treasurer with the Burned Children Fund since 1993, had mishandled funds in excess of $10,000.

Fortenberry was placed in the Lincoln County Jail under $36,000 secured bond. He's scheduled to appear in Superior Court next Monday (February 15). The investigation is ongoing.

Ex-NC State professor charged with embezzlement, placed on house arrest

NC State associate professor Scott Whisnant faced his first court appearance Thursday afternoon after turning himself in on three charges of embezzlement.

Whisnant turned himself in Wednesday upon University Police obtaining a warrant for his arrest on three charges of embezzlement. If found guilty, Whisnant could be in prison for 39 months, according to Judge Keith Gregory, whose court he made an appearance in Thursday afternoon. The embezzlement charges are felony level. 

Whisnant plead no contest. Whisnant’s attorney Christian Dysart asked that Whisnant be considered for pre-trial release. Gregory granted the request, on the condition that Whisnant remain under electronic house arrest for the duration of the trial.

Whisnant took $750 from the Agri-Life Council, $16,862 from the Alpha Zeta Agricultural Honors Fraternity, and $54,255 from the Animal Science Club over the past year, according to The News & Observer. Whisnant resigned from the animal science department the day before he turned himself in to the Wake County Sheriff's Department.

According to Dysart, Whisnant has made restitutions to the groups. Raleigh District Attorney Becky Holt confirmed that she had heard that restitution had been made, so she did not attempt to alter the charges against Whisnant.

The treasurer of the Animal Science Club tipped N.C. State auditors off to discrepancies in the club's bank statements on Jan. 14. University Police began investigating five days later, according to WRAL.

Charlotte Farin has taken over the teaching duties of Whisnant’s ANS 220 class. She told the class she didn’t have any details on the investigation, but she wanted the transition to go as smooth as possible, according to students enrolled in the class.

Animal Science Club fundraises most of its money through the milk booth at the State Fair.