Spring Lake’s previous finance director was arrested Friday by federal authorities and charged with embezzlement, bank fraud and aggravated identification theft.
Homosexual Cameron Tucker, 63, of Fayetteville, is accused of embezzling additional than $500,000 from Spring Lake throughout her tenure as finance director and accounting technician for the city, in accordance to a statement launched by the U.S. Lawyer for the Japanese District of North Carolina. An indictment also accuses her of carrying out the embezzlement by fraudulent checks made up of cast signatures of the mayor and town manager, the assertion stated.
Value TO People: How much has Spring Lake’s fiscal mishandling price its citizens?
U.S. Lawyer Michael Easley mentioned in the statement that metropolis government officers are entrusted to commit taxpayer funds on community needs — not their possess.
“Our prosecutors and law enforcement associates are committed to vigorously investigating all allegations of community corruption,” he stated.
Tucker is charged with one particular rely of embezzlement from a regional governing administration getting federal resources, four counts of bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identification theft.
History: NC auditor’s report on Spring Lake: Evidence of financial wrongdoing, including embezzlement
A 56-site investigation report that was unveiled by Point out Auditor Beth Wood in March observed that the town’s former accounting technician, who also served as Spring Lake’s finance director for additional than a calendar year, used at the very least $430,112 of the town’s revenue for particular use. The report did not name the technician, but stated in the footnotes that she served as the town’s finance director from March 2020 to April 2021 and as interim finance director from March 2020 to September 2020.
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Minutes of the town Board of Aldermen’s meetings show that Tucker served as finance director in February 2021 and was appointed interim finance director in March 2020.
The report advisable that the Spring Lake Board of Aldermen take into consideration using authorized motion versus the previous accounting technician. It accused the technician of creating 72 checks for her personal use.
HOW THEY Obtained THERE: ‘We’re paying the price’: How Spring Lake’s mishandled funds could direct to condition takeover
The technician wrote 32 checks for a total of extra than $16,000 that were being payable to Bragg Mutual Federal Credit score Union and deposited into her personalized bank account there, according to the report.
The report mentioned 27 checks totaling additional than $151,000 had been designed out as payable to the technician, with 24 deposited into her private account and a single deposited into her husband’s account at the credit union. 13 checks for a complete of extra than $113,000 ended up built payable to Heritage Location Senior Dwelling and utilized to pay out monthly resident expenditures of the technician’s partner, the report said.
The FBI is investigating the case, according to the assertion. Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Gilmore is the prosecutor.
Moving Forward: Spring Lake seems to be to get again on observe with following year’s finances. Here is what is in it.
Nearby news editor Steve DeVane can be attained at [email protected]
This posting initially appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Former Spring Lake finance manager arrested, billed with embezzlement