Church worker steals $600K for playing, holidays…

INDIANAPOLIS – An Indiana lady has been sentenced to 2 years in federal jail after stealing almost $600,000 from the church the place she labored.

In keeping with court docket paperwork from 2008 to 2021, Marie Carson illegally transferred roughly $573,836.59 from enterprise accounts of a Catholic church and associated college in Indianapolis to her personal private financial institution accounts.

The U.S. Division of Justice stated Monday the precise financial loss is probably going a lot greater, as Carson, 72, admitted to church officers that she started the scheme in 2004.

“For greater than 13 years, this defendant abused her place of belief to embezzle cash from parishioners supposed for a church and faculty,” stated Zachary A. Myers, United States lawyer for the southern district of Indiana. “Her greed and want for lavish holidays outweighed her curiosity in following the dictates of our felony legal guidelines and the teachings of her church, ‘thou shalt not steal.’ The sentence imposed at this time sends a transparent message to those that may search to steal, defraud, and embezzle: we are going to discover you, you may be prosecuted, and you may be held accountable.”

Carson pleaded responsible to wire fraud. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Courtroom Decide Chief Tanya Walton Pratt, who additionally ordered that Carson be supervised by the U.S. Probation Workplace for 2 years following her launch from federal jail and that she pay the total quantity stolen in restitution.

Throughout these 13 years, the DOJ stated Carson was employed on the parish as a enterprise supervisor and was chargeable for processing checks obtained from parishioners, conducting monetary transactions on behalf of the church and faculty, and was in control of managing the parish’s funds.

In keeping with the DOJ, her scheme was uncovered in November 2021, when she was on go away from her place. Carson’s short-term substitute seen suspicious transfers from the parish’s gaming account to an exterior checking account. Additional investigation led to the placement of over $289,000 in transfers to a number of accounts, together with a phantom account created within the church’s identify.

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Carson was in a position to keep the scheme by making false entries right into a database utilized by the parish to trace funds. A big sum of money was utilized by Carson and her husband for on line casino playing and an annual, month-long trip to Florida, the DOJ revealed.

“This scheme was fueled by pure greed. For greater than a decade, the defendant abused the belief of the church and its parishioners to line her personal pocket,” stated FBI Indianapolis particular agent in Cost Herbert J. Stapleton. “Whereas she might have benefited within the quick time period, ultimately this perpetrator’s deception landed her behind bars. The FBI and our companions will proceed to establish and examine those that have interaction in a majority of these unlawful schemes and maintain them accountable.”

This story was reported from Los Angeles.