On October 7, the Belhaven Police Department issued arrest warrants for 61-year-old Veronica Ward of Belhaven, charging her with e...

On October 7, the Belhaven Police Department issued arrest warrants for 61-year-old Veronica Ward of Belhaven, charging her with eight counts of Felony Embezzlement and three counts of Felony Identity Theft. The arrest followed a nearly three-month investigation into reports of financial fraud impacting local nonprofits – the Belhaven Celebration Committee and the Belhaven Memorial Museum. Ward was accused of embezzling $15,380 from the museum and $13,491 from the celebration committee. “Belhaven 136 is fully aware of the alleged financial fraud associated with previous fundraising efforts for the museum,” said Carol Roop, president of Belhaven 136, a nonprofit organization currently raising funds to repair, restore, and reopen the museum, and executive director of the Belhaven Community Chamber of Commerce. “We want to assure the public that no one serving with our organization was affiliated in any way with the prior issues. In fact, we identified potential financial irregularities of a previous fundraising effort and reported what we uncovered to the local police.” https://lnkd.in/gCXBPdnQ