FBI: Church Official Embezzled $360K From Food Pantry

May 30, 2022 Crime, Religion

The Marysville Appeal-Democrat reports:

The wife of a former Marysville police chief was arrested in Oklahoma after a federal grand jury indicted her on multiple counts, including fraud.

On May 19, a federal grand jury in Sacramento returned an indictment against Chanell Easton, 36, of Oklahoma City with charges that included 22 counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft for a scheme to embezzle church funds, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said.

Easton, the wife of former Marysville Police Department Chief Aaron Easton, worked as an administrator at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Yuba City, according to multiple sources.

From the Justice Department:



According to court documents, from June 2013 to February 2018, Easton worked as an administrator at a church in Yuba City. During her employment, Easton stole over $360,000 from the church, including from its food pantry and youth ministry, during a years-long embezzlement scheme.

Without the church’s knowledge or authorization, Easton opened five business credit card accounts in the church’s name.

Easton used these five credit cards, as well as a credit card used by the church’s youth pastor, to make personal purchases—including at a hair salon, retail stores, online retailers, a vacation rental service, and to buy concert tickets—and then paid off the resulting balance with the church’s money.

Easton also transferred money directly from the church’s bank accounts to her own personal account, paid down the balance of her own personal credit card, and paid her cellphone provider for her personal bills and for new phones.

According to the indictment, Easton also stole money from the church by writing checks to others for personal expenses and by writing checks to herself, on which she forged the signatures of the church’s treasurer or the head volunteer of the church’s food pantry.

If convicted, Easton faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of wire fraud, and a mandatory two-year sentence on each count of aggravated identity theft.

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