MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — A Southern Baptist church in eastern Tennessee is considering cutting back on ministries amid reports that a trusted employee of 47 years embezzled more than $1.5 million in church funds. Police arrested Barbara Whitt, 68, longtime financial secretary at First Baptist Church, Morristown, Tenn., May 10 after a church audit found nearly $500,000 in funds was missing. She is out of jail on a $175,000 bond.
By May 26 local media were reporting that the amount of money stolen could be $1.5 million, making it the biggest theft in the history of Hamblen County. “We’re not going to stop the programs entirely,” Pastor Dean Haun told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “But we might have to tap on the breaks.”
Whitt, a widow, is accused of writing 1,647 checks to herself between January 2008 and April of this year. Investigators say that each of the checks was larger than $900 and totaled an average of more than $50,000 each month. She is scheduled to face a grand jury July 2. If convicted, then she could be sentenced from eight to 12 years in prison.
(TAB)
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