Former employee charged with embezzling $260K from Carlsbad Department of Development
A former bookkeeper at the Carlsbad Department of Development (CDOD) was charged with multiple felonies stemming from an investigation into alleged embezzlement at the local nonprofit over the past year.
Belenda Lane, 68, allegedly admitted to a Carlsbad police officer to embezzling more than $260,000 in an estimated 680 transactions through a scheme that saw her fraudulently using Department of Development’s ATM cards and forging bank statements, according to a criminal complaint.
An arrest warrant for Lane was issued July 26, 2023 and had not been served as of Friday, records show.
Lane was charged with a felony count each of embezzlement of more than $20,000 and forgery of more than $20,000.
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She also faced a felony charge of tampering with evidence and 10 petty misdemeanor charges of violating the Remote Financial Service Unit Act.
The investigation started in July 2023 when former-CDOD Executive Director John Waters alerted police that he had not received monthly bank statements “in a few months,” the complaint read, and believed Lane had embezzled “large amounts of money” from the organization.
He was placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation, according to a September 2023 letter penned to CDOD members by Board President Ericka Laney. She said the Board had no evidence Waters took part in any criminal activity.
The CDOD is a nonprofit tasked with recruiting new business to Carlsbad and aiding current business owners in regulatory matters and other services.
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Waters was no longer employed at the CDOD starting in January, with Director of Marketing and Business Development Jeff Campbell covering the executive director duties as the organization’s board seeks a replacement.
Laney wrote that the organization was working with the Carlsbad Police Department and District Attorney's Office to investigate the incident.
She said the CDOD's bookkeeping services were turned over to an auditor, and a forensic auditing firm was working to determine the exact means used to commit the alleged fraud.
"This audit will also help us improve our internal controls and process to prevent a future recurrence," Laney wrote.
She said the CDOD also filed an insurance claim to attempt to recoup the money lost in the alleged scheme, and was "pursuing civil, legal and criminal actions" against Lane.
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Waters told police that Lane, as bookkeeper, managed bank statements and was the only person with access to company ATM cards and anyone using one would need her approval.
He said he called CNB Bank, which told Waters the statements were rerouted to an email address other than his own, read the complaint.
When he did receive the missing statements, Waters told police he noticed several unauthorized transactions dating back to March 2023.
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Police said Waters contacted Lane, who had been working for the company remotely since moving to Livingston, Texas in April 2023 but he told police she was “uncooperative” in providing the documents, records show.
He said the money was taken from a CDOD checking account using multiple cards linked to the account, the complaint read, and that he noticed the transactions moved to Livingston, Texas about the time that Lane moved there.
Police later discovered hundreds of allegedly fraudulent transactions in the bank statements between Jan. 31, 2023 and April 10, 2023, coming out to $262,230.47.
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The transactions were mostly between $450 and $500 each, the complaint read, conducted at various ATMs.
Waters also provided “monthly bank reconciliation” documents to police, which he said Lane forged by photocopying forms signed by Waters and CDOD Board of Directors Vice President Beverly Allen.
Lane appeared to have whited out the account numbers, then copied the documents to get the signatures on blank forms, allowing her to attach them to any account number while appearing authorized by CDOD officials, read the complaint.
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“John (Waters) told me the only reason Belinda (sic) would do that would be to hide statements from everyone so her actions would go undiscovered,” read the criminal complaint.
Police contacted Lane using a phone number provided by Waters, the complaint read.
When the Carlsbad Current-Argus called the same number, it appeared disconnected.
During the phone call on July 21, 2023, police said Lane confessed to taking the money, the complaint read.
She told police she started embezzling from the CDOD in October 2022 and was committing the crime to “help out a friend,” the complaint read.
She also confessed to conducting transactions in Alamogordo and Livingston, Texas using the same scheme, police said, and admitted to forging the monthly bank reconciliation documents because “I didn’t want them to find out what I was doing.”
Police said Lane told them she’d also made extra payroll checks out to herself before she hung up on investigators.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Employee accused of embezzlement at Carlsbad Department of Development
