ROANOKE, Va. -- A federal jury has convicted a church financial secretary and his wife of stealing about $100,000 from their church, The Roanoke Times reported.
Terry Lynn Moore and his wife, Myra, were found guilty after a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg.
Prosecutors said Moore wrote checks to himself, his wife and his business, Moore Printing & More, from a St. Paul Pentecostal Holiness Church account he controlled as financial secretary.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennie Waering told the jury that between 1994 and 2000 about $27,000 went to the business; $20,000 went to pay off a credit card issued to Terry Moore and the church; about $19,000 went to Myra Moore; and about $3,000 went to Terry Moore. Other checks were written to pay office supply accounts, telephone bills and personal expenses, Wearing said.
Moore maintained he spent the money on church business or community outreach programs. The theft went undiscovered for years because Moore maintained all financial records at his home. It was only after church members attended a financial seminar that they questioned Moore and discovered the theft.
The couple will be sentenced on conspiracy to defraud and mail and wire fraud charges on Aug. 27. They will remain free on bond until then, the newspaper reported.
