Former Spring Lake finance director charged with embezzling more than $500K from the town

Spring Lake’s former finance director was arrested Friday by federal authorities and billed with embezzlement, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Gay Cameron Tucker, 63, of Fayetteville, is accused of embezzling extra than $500,000 from Spring Lake through her tenure as finance director and accounting technician for the town, according to a statement released by the U.S. Lawyer for the Jap District of North Carolina.  An indictment also accuses her of carrying out the embezzlement by means of fraudulent checks containing forged signatures of the mayor and city manager, the assertion mentioned.

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U.S. Legal professional Michael Easley reported in the statement that metropolis government officers are entrusted to invest taxpayer funds on general public desires — not their possess.

“Our prosecutors and regulation enforcement partners are fully commited to vigorously investigating all allegations of general public corruption,” he stated.

Tucker is billed with just one rely of embezzlement from a neighborhood government obtaining federal funds, 4 counts of lender fraud, and two counts of aggravated identification theft.

Qualifications: NC auditor’s report on Spring Lake: Proof of fiscal wrongdoing, including embezzlement

A 56-page investigation report that was released by State Auditor Beth Wooden in March observed that the town’s previous accounting technician, who also served as Spring Lake’s finance director for more than a calendar year, utilized at the very least $430,112 of the town’s revenue for own use. The report did not name the technician, but claimed 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.

Tale continues

The report advised that the Spring Lake Board of Aldermen take into account taking lawful motion in opposition to the previous accounting technician. It accused the technician of crafting 72 checks for her own use.

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The technician wrote 32 checks for a full of much more than $16,000 that have been payable to Bragg Mutual Federal Credit history Union and deposited into her individual lender account there, in accordance to the report.

The report explained 27 checks totaling additional than $151,000 ended up created out as payable to the technician, with 24 deposited into her personalized account and one particular deposited into her husband’s account at the credit rating union. Thirteen checks for a whole of more than $113,000 had been designed payable to Heritage Location Senior Residing and utilized to spend every month resident expenses of the technician’s husband, the report explained.

The FBI is investigating the scenario, according to the assertion. Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Gilmore is the prosecutor.

Shifting Ahead: Spring Lake appears to get back on observe with next year’s funds. This is what’s in it.

Community news editor Steve DeVane can be achieved at [email protected]

This write-up at first appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Former Spring Lake finance supervisor arrested, charged with embezzlement