On today's body cam, we're checking out church secretary embezzled nearly $600,000 during six-year luxury spending spree. On November 22nd, 2024, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office in Florida was called to Amelia Baptist Church after two newly appointed financial committee members discovered discrepancies while reviewing bank documents and records. >> Hello there. >> Hello, sir. I'm good. How are you? >> Doing good. How are you? Upon examining credit card statements tied to a church card issued directly to the financial secretary, they found that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been charged for personal use. They immediately contacted the sheriff's office. >> Uh jealous stands cuz we can sit here, but I don't have all that stuff on. So whatever we can go down, it's fine. wherever you need us. >> We don't typically fit in them >> in chairs very well. So >> yeah, stand. >> Okay. >> Um, >> how you doing? I'm >> Henry. >> How you doing? >> Um, there's some ladies down there working on stuff. >> So Carrie is the chairman of our trustees. >> Okay. So he is kind of the legal officer of the church, one of the pastors. Um and so you know that we wanted to make the report today with you guys to get the ball rolling get turned over to detectives and all that stuff. So so kind of the the moment we knew exactly what was happening would have been October 29th. >> Uh we were able to obtain some bank information, credit card receipts, >> okay, >> that showed that our financial secretary or the credit card issued to our financial secretary was being used for personal charges. >> Okay. um [snorts] cruises, airfare, all sorts of stuff. Okay. Um there was definitely not church related business. >> She going on vacation on the Lord's down. Wow. Wow. He said cruises. She going laid up, feet kicked back, having her, you know, and you know she probably got the drink package. You know she probably got the drink package. You ain't going on no cruise without the drink package, man. We confronted her about that. She admitted to have >> and she probably drinking a whole lot more than wine, >> having made the charges and to also having done like electronic transfers >> um that were not church related, right? >> And um so in that discussion with her, she put a ballpark at probably approximately $300,000 over the course of since 2019. >> She admitted that or she >> Yes, those are the numbers she gave us >> since 20 when >> 19. We have been trying to get bank records and stuff. We don't have all of those yet. And so I know there's gonna be a lot to kind of slog through with detectives of looking into all, you know, putting all the pieces into place, but we just need to get this first part started to to be able to move forward with that. It's kind of let me just get some stuff down here real quick. Yeah, I apolog I don't have all >> What's her What's her name? What's her name? I >> think I found her. >> Okay. She was terminated as of the 31st of October in that discussion and she admitted to what she had done. >> How far back do you guys have? >> Hold on. I got a question for you guys that's in the church, you know, and y'all, you know, y'all into that. Let me know. Does the church the the people that work at the church, do they make money? Like for example, the guy said, um, yeah, she was terminated, right? And when we think about termination, I think about that like a job, you know, you're fired, you know, you're relieved of your duties or whatever the case may be. But the are these paid positions? Like, how does the church make money? I know they go around with the cup and you could donate and all that stuff, but in general like damn, they th they donating. Listen, they didn't even catch it. The only reason they caught it is because they hired some new people that was going through the documents and stuff like that. So, this church was missing $600,000. She admitted to 300, but we could tell by the title it ends up being 600,000. They was missing half a million and didn't even think about it. So are people donating half a million to the church? Like how much how do how do churches generate this type of revenue? Man, inquiring minds want to know. Listen, if you deep into the church, let me know cuz I need I want to know. >> Financial records too. As of right now, >> I know we had end of 20. Well, yeah. The credit card that we first saw was from 2023. >> Okay. >> Starting in like December 2023 going into, you know, up to current. >> Was it multiple credit cards? Was it just the one? >> Just the one that we [snorts] you that was issued to her. We don't She says she didn't use the others. We We haven't seen anything on the others. >> Um there are lots of other credit cards for church, but >> Okay. >> That's the one that we know of. >> Okay. >> Did y'all lock that credit card down or close that account all together? >> Well, what had happened? So, if you want the whole backstory, kind of our [clears throat] guys that were over finance both passed away at the end of 2023. >> So, we got new people over finance. Um, and so Karen, who's over finance, was pushing to get access to all this stuff because she wasn't on all the accounts and everything. She's been pushing. And then we were also looking at moving to a new bank because just things were not, you know, things weren't working right. Well, in the process of all that, the bank actually cancelled all of our credit cards. Yeah. So, we didn't have to cancel them. They had actually >> in a snap on their part had canceled all of our credit cards. >> Um, and so really, so there wasn't ongoing as in like up to the last few weeks. It had been a month or two before that that the last charges were made just because they had canceled her credit. Okay. >> And so we had gotten new cards, but she hadn't gotten one of those yet. And when the year started, she had moved into kind of a part-time remote status more. And so we that was kind of the struggle getting records from her and everything and so she was kind of dragging her feet which >> when you talk to them see if they can get something that shows is each is each card that's issued have a different number to it does that make sense? >> Yeah I think >> and do you have something do you have something on file that shows which card is issued to which person? >> Um it has her names on it. So like so >> yeah my point being is tying that particular card to her. >> Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So, I have a copy of a statement of kind of her summary statement. We got power company, we got lots of Walmart.com, Amazon, those kind of things. Um, but like insurance payments and all stuff. And she admitted that all of those are fraudulent. I see this. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Is what's highlighted? What's >> um I think the highlight that's where she paid down the balance. So, she's racking up charges and then she's >> trying to cover it up. She's using church money to pay that off. That makes That's where the That's where you're getting. >> Okay. >> I thought she was trying to make do make right using her personal money to >> No, no, no. She's using church credit card >> and taking from the church bank account to pay off that credit card, >> which is >> Yeah. [laughter] Yo, she got a whole scheme going on here. So when you go to church, sit down, you hit a good word and everything and they donate, boom, they they they had a cup, you know, or the bucket or whatever they had, you know, the offering, pass it around. Boom, boom, people donate. Boom, boom, boom. You know, that money gets deposited or something. But when that money gets deposited, she paying off, you know, the new grill that she brought at Walmart, man. or she paying off her car insurance that she just oh nah boy this is insane >> where we're getting this large sum because >> she balance to and then also the electronic transfers are paying personal bills and and those kind of things. Do we know >> what's paid on here that's supposed to be for the church? >> Our head of finance has done more of that. They broke it down by who each payment was for. >> Like Adobe, like we'll say, okay, that's a church card, you know, that's a something we expenses. >> Um, that's once a month for $20. >> Okay. >> But she maxed out the credit card like twice in 2024. For thousands of thous you know, >> Carnival, not us. >> Carnival. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Not only is she taking cruises, but she going on Carnival. Oh man. Carnival is the party. It's the the party of the seas, man. They call it the spirit of the seas. It's Carnival. They partying, drinking nonstop. It ain't like, you know, one of them, you know, one of them retirement home cruises. Carnival is active, alive, and well, man. Woo! We Oh, we >> You guys You guys You guys are the princess cruise line. [laughter] >> See? Yeah. Yeah. Y'all Yeah. Go over there. Princess C Disney. Yeah. Y'all go on them, you know, even to a certain extent. Royal Caribbean. That's like, you know, that's them little retirement home. Royal is okay, but it that's more retirement home type cruises. Yeah. No, Carnival. Yeah. That that thing is it's on and popping. >> Wow. She had a great time on there, boy. [laughter] >> And and even you can see where some of her transactions are in different places. So when she went to like part time with us, she took a job somewhere else. >> So her job taking her to like Colorado. Well, there's charges in Colorado. >> Yeah. there will credit cards. >> So, some homework whenever you get these statements. This is going to be a lot of homework and I hate it, but if y'all can mark what is authorized >> and what is not authorized, that will make it easier on us. And honestly, if if we have all of that, especially if we have something that ties her name to the card to the charges. >> Yeah. >> Um we don't even have to go through detectives. >> Yeah. It's >> we'll we'll just we'll cut a warrant for her and it'll be done. All right. On the top there is the case number. I have both of our names and ID numbers on there. >> So that key card is specific to me. So mine's printed on there and dropped his on there. >> All right. >> All right, gentlemen. If we don't hear from you guys see all youall have a, you know, happy Thanksgiving. >> You, too. >> And look for you guys. Of course. Of course. >> Yep. Thanks, sir. >> Thank you, sir. >> Yes, sir. Thanks, guys. When investigators dug deeper into the statements and charges, it became clear that the damage was far greater than the $300,000 she had admitted to spending. It all started in 2019. Melissa made a total of $2,954.7 in unauthorized and fraudulent transactions using the church's credit card. In addition to these fraudulent charges, she also used the church's account to make payments totaling $33,3747 toward her own personal credit cards. >> Furthermore, she issued herself additional payroll payments through the church, amounting to $3,9252. Altogether, she embezzled a total of $39,916.83 from the church in 2019. as her confidence grew. >> Only 2019. Oh man. >> And her appetite increased. The affidavit says that in 2020, she made a total of $21,682.91 in unauthorized and fraudulent transactions using the church's credit card. In addition to these fraudulent charges, she also used the church's account to make payments totaling $48,651.76 toward her own personal credit cards. Furthermore, she issued herself additional payroll payments through the church, amounting to $17,91246. Altogether, she embezzled a total of $88,247.13 from the church in 2020. In 2021, she grew bolder using church funds to pay. >> Rent a center >> for clothing, travel. >> Oh, no. That's say rent a car. I was about to say Rena Center. I'm like, wait, hold on. You you doing all of this? What you need to go to Rena Center for? Okay. It says thrifty rent a car. Okay. >> Rentals and more. Investigators found that she made a total of $26,811.50 in unauthorized and fraudulent transactions using the church's credit card. These transactions included charges to companies such as Amazon, Air Tires, SeaWorld, Geico, Hey, Dude Shoes, Southwest Airlines, Hyatt Orlando, New Skin, Pharminx, Topgolf, Jacksonville, Enterprise Rent a Car, Thrifty Rent a Car, and a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon. In addition to these fraudulent charges, she also used the church's account to make payments totaling $60,612.32 toward her own personal credit cards. Furthermore, she issued herself additional payroll payments through the church amounting to $14,6917. Altogether, she embezzled a total of $12,114.99 from the church. Yo, this is insane. Year after year, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. This is a prime example of when people start to get into, you know, uh, obviously crime or, you know, drugs and stuff like that. It's like you start off small and then you you get away with it or you you know, you go to the next thing, you know, gateway drug, right? You start off, you might start off with little weed, right? you know, oh my god, we it's legal. Oh my god. And then it just spirals. Or you start off, you know, doing thefts, you know what I'm saying? And then now you going to burglaries, robbery, you know what I'm saying? Armed robberies, like, you know what I mean? Like it just starts off like that, man. Yo, she went from like 30,000 to and jumped and went full throttle to 80 80,000 and now she over a 100,000. But she paying it back though, too. Like this is just this is wild. Church making big money, boy. [snorts] Hey, shout out shout out Southwest. Shout out Enterprise, man. Yo, cut your boy a deal, man. I rock with y'all, man. >> In 2021. In 2022, she embezzled nearly $125,000 on purchases, including cruise lines, Airbnb rentals, concert tickets, and more. In 2023, she embezzled just over $123,000 in fraudulent charges at Amazon, hotels, and Walmart. In 2024, she continued issuing herself additional payroll payments and embezzled more than $90,000, which included spending on cruise lines, baseball tickets, hotels, and other personal expenses. Church secretary embezzled nearly $600,000 during a six-year luxury spending spree. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and Baker >> See, so now I'm thinking she was spending this money in other places. So, is it going to be federal? Because that's feds. That's half a m like you're cooked. Like you know the state you might be able to might be able to maneuver or something. But look this lady right here. Decent looking snow bunny. You know what I mean? Listen, you listen to me. She had a blast on Carnival Cruise Lines. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. >> County Sheriff's Office deputies went to take her into custody. When she saw the deputies, she was not happy about it at all. >> Three or four units of 1097. >> Okay, let's see what she look like. >> Melissa, >> nice crib. Woo. Got a little land. Okay. >> Hey, how you doing, sir? >> Are you the owner of this house? >> It's my son-in-law. Him and his wife are inside. They have a baby. >> Hi. >> Hey. How you doing? Oh, we're looking for a Melissa >> poor. >> She's got a warrant out of Nassau County. >> Okay. >> She here. >> Um, >> she just need to go see a judge. That's >> So, she she's been on the phone with the guy. >> Yeah, she already has a thing scheduled for tomorrow morning. >> They're meeting at 9:00 a.m. There's been a detective from Nassau County, >> the lead detective on the case. >> Yeah. And they called us to get get a hold of her. >> That's fine. >> She's already got a hold of them. >> Yeah. >> Yo, what is she protecting her or something, man? Bring her ass out. >> Can y'all call and confirm that, please? They called us to come get her. >> Y'all want They want y'all to take her? >> That's correct. >> Can I ask when this happened? >> It happened uh >> It's none of your business, man. Bring her out. >> You hiding a fugitive, man. >> 20 minutes ago. >> Okay. Are y'all able to call the Lee investigator? >> We We have a warrant signed by a judge. We have to take her in. >> Otherwise, I can't provide for my family. >> No. No. You >> kind of get what I'm saying? >> Yeah. >> No. I'm just trying to understand what's happening. >> Let me um She's gonna have to go. I mean, it is what it is. >> Okay. I'm just confused why lead investigator said >> that's fine. >> I don't know how this works. Does that make sense? >> So, she's going to have to go to our our our sheriff's office. She'll get transferred to Nassau County tomorrow. >> Okay. >> She'll see a judge. She'll talk to the investigator. The investigator might come to us, but they requesting us to come pick her up. >> Said that she was here. >> All right. I just I guess >> Can y'all walk with me? >> Well, hold on. I just have a question real quick. Is that okay? >> Okay. >> Okay. >> If they said, "Hey, you can turn yourself in at this time." Why is it no longer being abided by? Does that make sense? >> That is weird. [clears throat] >> You You got to You got to imagine >> so many people have told us, "Hey, we're not We'll meet you there tomorrow." And they're in >> Tallahassee going west on 10. Can I handle it? >> Yeah. Well, no, no, no. They can stay here. You go handle it. [laughter] >> Y'all come over. >> No, no, no. Hold on. I have TO >> YEAH. YEAH. HELL [screaming] YEAH. Get her ass in line, MAN. WHAT WHAT'S SHE TALKING ABOUT? Come on, man. I I like this guy. I like this guy, man. I like this guy right here. He like, man, come on, man. Come on, man. What you What you What you talking about, man? >> Yo, yo, come on. >> No, no, no. Hold on. I have to This is This is my husband's property. Can I just talk to him real quick, please? This that back half's not ours. >> Where Where is she? >> She's just outside. I can >> She just ran inside when the cop came. >> No, that was me. That was me. This is my house. >> Okay. >> And when I see cops pulling up a bit, >> man, they got a warrant. Let's go. Game time, man. >> Oh, hi. >> Hello. >> He's not in here. >> She back there. Yeah, they're going. He already told him that he's going to handle it. >> Nice little hangout spot. >> Yeah, it's not. >> The door is going to shut. I can't keep it open. >> Okay. >> Is there another door on the back? >> There's not. >> Okay. >> Okay. What's she crying for? You wasn't crying on Carnival Cruise Line. in our bail. >> Melissa, do you have your ID on your license? >> Why they say I can just come in? >> 27 Georgia. >> Well, they asked for us to come pick you up. You got to imagine from our our perspective, so many people lie to us and say, "Hey, there we'll be there tomorrow." And then they it's gone and they go somewhere else. >> Can we do this? >> Like, and I don't know if we can or not. >> Can we y'all follow or whatever? Can we take her to Nassau now? So there's not a transport deal. >> She can if she was going to bond out tomorrow >> is to my she can still bond out with us. >> Do I need to let the bell bondsman know that I'm now in Baker County? >> You can if you're going to >> appreciate you guys help us out. We'll we'll help out as much as possible, but there's only so much we can do. So, >> I had like one speeding ticket. I've never been in any kind of trouble. So, >> man, man, quiet that down, man. You you messing with the law of money, man. >> Okay. This is the bail box, man. That's >> okay. >> Deputies explained to her that a preset bond had already been set on her warrant, meaning she could potentially be out of jail within 2 hours of posting bail. >> So, again, there there's a bond set on the warrant. So, anytime you have a bond set on a warrant, whether you go to that jurisdiction or another, you can still bond out on that warrant. Okay? I'm not saying that you have to sit in jail all night long. It all depends on if you come up with the bond and the bonds been, whatever the case may be. Okay? >> So, not necessarily that you're going to get transported to Nassau County. You could get out within a few hours. You may not even change your clothes if your bondsman gets here fast enough with a bomb. >> Okay? You need to call him and let him know that [clears throat] you're going now. >> So, >> while while we're waiting, if you need to make a phone call, we're confirming the expedition. >> Okay. Thank y'all. Seriously, you really don't understand. >> I told you anyway we can help, we can do. However, we just can't leave the propert. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. [clears throat] >> And if you remain cool, calm, collective, we won't cuff you up and all that stuff. >> Especially in in front of kids. claustrophobic, man. You better you better get over that fear because you about to be in in a tiny little cell where your bathroom is in the cell with you. It's going to be like, you know how you got a a regular bathroom, right? But then you got one of them half baths. It's going to be like the size of that. And you going to have your toilet, you going to have your bunk bed, and you going to have Big Bertha there as your roommate. Man, you talk about claustrophobic. Yeah, you in for a long ride, boy. Half a mill. You took a half a mill ticket. You definitely going to jail. >> We try not to do that. >> Unless Unless you make us >> threeyear-old oneyear-old, but the >> um 8-year-old knows lots. >> Okay. Well, hold on. If there's How is there a bond if she hasn't went to court? >> They still they still preset bonds. >> It's a preset bond. >> Yeah, it all depends on the charges. >> It all depends on the charges she gave >> or was a bond set by a judge at the time. >> There was a bond set by the judge at the time that this all happened. >> So when we get >> because somebody said she was here and if she hasn't a warrant, they have the right to come get her. >> It doesn't matter. I know. >> Okay, let me call you back. Bye. >> Does she think arguing is helping anything right now? >> No, she's just confused. She said, "Well, she had a thing for tomorrow." I said, "I know. It doesn't matter." >> And we do understand that. However, if we get a call and we make contact with the individual has the warrant, we can't walk away. >> That's that's the only thing. >> Like said, >> when we they told us, it wasn't like she has a meeting at 9:00 a.m. just want to confirm. It was you're potentially here. Please go check. >> Then Melissa and her family told deputies that she was not happy at all about seeing her face on the sheriff's office Facebook page in a wanted poster. >> That's probably my dumb fault because I've never been in trouble before and I told the lady where I was when I called when I saw the poster of myself. >> The Facebook thing is crazy. >> Like if we were like literally like Bonnie and Vlad, wouldn't we have seen the Facebook thing and then just called us? Like we had gotten caught, >> but like would you have just showed up at the house and taken us taken her back? >> Like you knew her address, you knew where she lived. Like the Facebook thing was crazy. >> Yeah. I don't I don't >> And no one contacted me. Like >> So there was like on the sheriff's office page, they put the wanted thing out. >> That's how I found out. >> Yeah. I I got on Facebook just hanging out here with her earlier and saw my face on a wanted poster and like so I called >> $3,000 thing. So we people have been at our houses, >> right? But they're taking pictures of places, >> but you could So we live in C. >> I live in Cron County. Yeah. >> So like they couldn't have called the sheriff's office in Camden County and just said, "Here's where she lives." >> They could have. >> That's crazy. The Facebook thing's crazy. >> They probably >> You think Facebook crazy? You know you on YouTube, right? YouTube has over a billion views a a day. You think Facebook crazy in your little county? [clears throat] Yeah. You know, but a way to avoid all of this, all she had to do was not play with the Lord's money, man. 600,000 is insane. I know you know that's insane. 600,000, man. people in there, praise the Lord, you know, doing their thing, getting their holy on, donating to the church, you know, they they like how they doing things, maybe re renovating, whatever. They donating to the cause and she spending it on Carnival Cruise Lines. She taking the money and spending IT ON HELICOPTER RIDES OVER THE GRAND CANYON. HELICOPTER RIDES. YEAH, they doing it big. And now that I see that she got a man, they both were enjoying that. It's just that he not, you know, it's not him, you know, it's her. She took the money. But yeah, you think she going on that car on that on that um well, who knows? Carnival Cruise Line. That could have been a girl's trip now. Who know who knows? But you think she doing the the uh the helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon by herself? No. a man right there. >> Yeah. >> Could only been out to your house. I don't We don't >> I mean, I was there until when I came here, but but the crazy thing is now all these crazy people think they're going to get a $3,000 reward cuz I'm on the run or something and they're like sending pictures of my house like on all these rants and race pages and stuff. Like, I have children. Nobody thinks about that. Like, I'm not some horrible evil person that deserves to be like witch mauled, you know? Like, >> what? Yeah. You You took You stole $600,000. What are you talking about? You got kids. Nobody feel bad for you. Nobody feels sympathy for you. When you doing wrong, you got to know what come with that. You got to hold your chin up, stand tall, chest out. You did what you did. She did what she did. So now you got to go with it. You listen. If you didn't want to, if you thought about your kids and you thought about being a good person, like dang, it's one, it's bad to steal in general, but it's one thing to steal from whatever, you know, but you took the Lord's money, man. This is some different type of stuff right here. This is different. This is different. This is different, man. Nobody wants to hear the so story. Nobody want to hear about how good of a person she is. I know I don't want to hear it. So I know you don't want to hear it. You did bad. So you take the consequences, man. I hope she get hit with a 10piece. That's me. I think she should get hit with but seven seven to 10. Something like that. Seven to 10. Half a mill is is a damn shirt. >> Yeah. I can only speak about like what we do for Baker. And usually if we do anything on our Facebook, it's usually reaching out to try to identify somebody. We don't >> we don't. >> It posted it. It said wanted like a word. I'm like just wanted. >> How about try contacting me first? I would have gladly come in rather than have this. >> Um you still have your ID on you. in my pocket. >> All right, that's the only thing. You'll just have to leave the chapstick just out of the reach of the kids. >> Um, and you'll go and step your turn. >> You're good. You're good. >> You have zero problem. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You good. You good. She get special privileges. You good. You good. You good. You good. Come on, man. If that's me in that situation, what you think they doing, man? >> Let her have a seat. We're good. We're good. I got it. >> Just please stay on the bell. >> It's in my text. >> Not all right. >> 10,000% real quick. >> Yeah. >> You want to keep your thumb ring? >> Love you. >> If I can get it off. Do I have to take it off when I get there? >> Yeah, if you can take it off, it' be better. >> I love you. Just don't worry. Okay. as fast as I work as fast as I can. >> Thank you. >> Everything Everything's out. >> Love you. >> Love you. >> All right. Just a quick ride. Okay. >> She was charged with grand theft over $100,000, a first-degree felony for unlawfully using the church's credit card to pay for personal expenses totaling more than $500,000. On June 3rd, 2026, a judge ordered her to pay an initial $20,000 in restitution within 60 days, though further restitution and the final verdict on her firstdegree grand theft charge remain ongoing. [sighs] I could already see how this going to go. Oh, I could already see how this going to go, man. She not going to get no time for real, man. No time. Because look, the bond was all is already at like they said 10,000. So that's 10%. $1,000 like you know to go through the bonds. $1,000 and YOU STOLE $500,000. OH, I MEAN WHAT? $600,000. Oh man, she got to get Yo, she got to get a You know, I I I said I said seven to 10. I said a 10 piece early. I'm like, ah, that might be a little much. But she deserves at least five. At least >> five. [music]