Financial Crime News 01/13/2023

(January 12) Local Church Burglarized Out Of Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars In Stolen Equipment

DeKalb County police are looking for whoever broke into a church stealing thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Church leaders told FOX 5 they feel violated that anyone would steal from a holy place. 

"The house of God is the last place you would think crime would occur," Reverend Tracey Fletcher said.

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(January 12) Report: Teens Caught Stealing From Church Ice Cream Truck

Forsyth police caught juveniles stealing ice pops out of a church ice cream truck on Saturday night, Jan. 7.

Forsyth officer Jeffrey Burriss said he was eating dinner in his patrol car behind the Magic Touch car wash around 10 p.m. when he heard a bottle breaking nearby and got out to investigate. He heard voices coming from the Momentum Church parking lot above and climbed a 6-foot concrete wall to find who did it. There he found 5 juveniles cradling items in their hands and he shouted, “Stop! Police! Don’t move!”

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(January 11) Pastor Arrested For Faking Own Kidnap, Collects N600,000 From Members

A Jos-based pastor, Albarka Bitrus, has been arrested by operatives of the Plateau State Police Command for stagging his own kidnap and demanding ransom from members of his congregation.

The command’s spokesman, Alabo Alfred, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday said that the clergyman was arrested alongside his collaborators following intelligence reports after church members paid N600,000 ransom to secure the cleric’s release.

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(January 10) Georgetown Church Treasurer Sentenced To Nearly 3 Years After Stealing Over $500k From Church

LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — A Georgetown man was sentenced to a federal prison after being found guilty of wire fraud. On Monday, 66-year-old Ralph Tackett was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison.

According to a new release, Tackett was the treasurer of a church in Georgetown who embezzled a total of $512,042, in part through the commission of wire fraud.

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(January 10) Appleton Woman Charged With Christmas Day Church Burglary In De Pere

DE PERE, Wis. (WFRV) – A 65-year-old Appleton woman was formally charged on Monday for allegedly burglarizing a church in De Pere on Christmas Day. Mary Jo Pepin faces up to 12 and a half years in prison and up to $35,000 in fines after being accused of breaking into Our Lady of Lourdes church and school around 5:00 p.m. on December 25, 2022.

According to the criminal complaint obtained by Local 5 News, police were dispatched to the church after a witness stated they’d seen a woman on camera who ‘should not be in the building at that time.’ The camera that took the image of Pepin was also unplugged and taken by Pepin.

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