North Carolina church daycare worker arrested on charges of embezzling $16K
A North Carolina woman who was employed at a church daycare facility has been arrested following a report of embezzlement.
Carol C. Gomez, 57, of Stony Point, was reported to police by First Baptist Church of Taylorsville. Following an investigation, the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office charged Gomez on July 29 with one count of theft by an employee.
Gomez was the manager of the daycare facility and accused of stealing around $16,000 over three years, the sheriff's office said in a release.
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She made her first district court appearance on Aug. 5 and posted $25,000 bond.
In a separate case in California, reported by The Christian Post in March, a former church administrator and wife of a former police chief was convicted of stealing over $360,000 from St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Yuba City.
Chanell Easton, 38, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Easton had allegedly used multiple credit cards affiliated with the church in an embezzlement scheme from 2013 to 2018.
Prosecutors noted that the former church staff member used church funds to pay off numerous credit cards. Purchases were also made at a hair salon, retail stores, online retailers and a vacation rental service. She also bought VIP concert tickets.
One of the cards Easton allegedly used belonged to the church's youth ministry pastor. She used his identity to make unauthorized personal purchases from Zappos.com. Prosecutors said her use of the youth minister's identity allowed her to shift suspicion away from herself.
In another CP report, a former church accountant was sentenced to five years in prison last year for embezzling more than $176,000 from a congregation in Virginia and has been ordered to pay restitution.
Andrew Patrick Landsperger, who previously worked as an accountant for Galilee Episcopal Church of Virginia Beach, was sentenced on charges of credit card fraud and embezzlement.
Landsperger was accused of stealing money from the church from January 2022 through August 2022. When his crime was discovered, he was fired.
“As part of his employment, Landsperger had access to payroll, the church’s books, and the church’s credit card. From April to July 2022, he conducted $34,653.72 worth of unauthorized transactions on his Amazon account using the church’s credit card,” authorities said at the time.“
Landsperger also used his access to the church’s payroll system to alter his approved salary. The total overpayment to Landsperger using the church’s altered payroll system was $134,839.52.”
Galilee Episcopal lost $176,536 due to the fraud, but recovered $112,324 via insurance and reimbursement from its credit card company.
Landsperger has not only spent time behind bars, but he was also ordered to pay restitution to the church for the remaining $64,199 that was lost through his criminal actions, authorities confirmed.
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
