Spring Lake’s former finance director was once arrested Friday via federal government and charged with embezzlement, financial institution fraud and irritated identification robbery.
Homosexual Cameron Tucker, 63, of Fayetteville, is accused of embezzling greater than $500,000 from Spring Lake throughout her tenure as finance director and accounting technician for the city, in line with a observation launched via the U.S. Legal professional for the Jap District of North Carolina. An indictment additionally accuses her of wearing out the embezzlement thru fraudulent exams containing solid signatures of the mayor and city supervisor, the observation mentioned.
COST TO RESIDENTS:How a lot has Spring Lake’s monetary mishandling price its citizens?
U.S. Legal professional Michael Easley mentioned within the observation that town govt officers are entrusted to spend taxpayer finances on public wishes — now not their very own.
“Our prosecutors and regulation enforcement companions are dedicated to vigorously investigating all allegations of public corruption,” he mentioned.
Tucker is charged with one depend of embezzlement from a neighborhood govt receiving federal finances, 4 counts of financial institution fraud, and two counts of irritated identification robbery.
BACKGROUND:NC auditor’s file on Spring Lake: Proof of economic wrongdoing, together with embezzlement
A 56-page investigation file that was once launched via State Auditor Beth Picket in March discovered that the city’s former accounting technician, who additionally served as Spring Lake’s finance director for greater than a yr, used no less than $430,112 of the city’s cash for private use. The file didn’t title the technician, however mentioned within the footnotes that she served as the city’s finance director from March 2020 to April 2021 and as intervening time finance director from March 2020 to September 2020.
Mins of the city Board of Aldermen’s conferences display that Tucker served as finance director in February 2021 and was once appointed intervening time finance director in March 2020.
The file advisable that the Spring Lake Board of Aldermen believe taking prison motion in opposition to the previous accounting technician. It accused the technician of writing 72 exams for her non-public use.
HOW THEY GOT THERE:‘We are paying the fee’: How Spring Lake’s mishandled price range may just result in state takeover
The technician wrote 32 exams for a complete of greater than $16,000 that have been payable to Bragg Mutual Federal Credit score Union and deposited into her non-public checking account there, in line with the file.
The file mentioned 27 exams totaling greater than $151,000 have been made out as payable to the technician, with 24 deposited into her non-public account and one deposited into her husband’s account on the credit score union. 13 exams for a complete of greater than $113,000 have been made payable to Heritage Position Senior Dwelling and used to pay per month resident expenses of the technician’s husband, the file mentioned.
The FBI is investigating the case, in line with the observation. Assistant U.S. Legal professional William M. Gilmore is the prosecutor.
MOVING FORWARD:Spring Lake seems to be to get again heading in the right direction with subsequent yr’s price range. Here is what’s in it.
Native information editor Steve DeVane can also be reached at [email protected].
https://www.fayobserver.com/tale/information/crime/2022/06/10/town-spring-lake-nc-former-finance-manager-gay-tucker-charged-embezzlement/7583787001/
