| id | cleanReleaseDate | troopName | title |
| 6728 | 2010-05-18 | Statewide | Local Church Becomes Victim of Fraudulent Check-Cashing Scheme |
| LOUISIANA STATE POLICE COURTESY LOYALTY SERVICE Colonel Michael D. Edmonson, Superintendent HEADQUARTERS- NEWS RELEASE Local Church Becomes Victim of Fraudulent Check-Cashing Scheme ST. FRANCISVILLE- Today, Louisiana State Police Detectives arrested several individuals who took part in a check-cashing scheme designed to divert funds intended for the Union Bethel Family Church (Church of Weyanoke) located in St. Francisville. Detectives were recently contacted by Union Bethel Family Church leaders to investigate the improper handling of church monetary funds by John and Carol Cobb dating back to December 2008. The church became aware of the scheme after an employee of the Bank of St. Francisville contacted the church to notify them of a large overdraft of the church account, which exceeded $11,000. After reviewing bank records, detectives uncovered a complex series of bank transactions that originated from a check that was written to the Union Bethel Family Church for $80,000 on December 5, 2008. The check was issued to Union Bethel Family Church from the Feliciana Enrichment Center, Inc. and signed by the company’s president and vice-president, Oliver Wingfield and George Veal. After signing the check, Wingfield and Veal turned it over to John Cobb. In exchange, Cobb provided Veal with two $25,000 checks written from the Church account by Cobb and signed by church members Louisa Jones and Carol Cobb (wife of John Cobb). The two checks were made out to John Perry and David DeLoach. Perry and DeLoach were allegedly being compensated for contract work on the church that was never performed. Veal had Perry endorse one of the checks, and then deposited it into his personal bank account at a credit union in Zachary, LA. Veal then paid Perry $400.00 cash for his participation in the transaction. Veal also brought Oliver Wingfield the second $25,000 check that was written to David Deloach. Wingfield delivered the check to Deloach, his son-in-law, who deposited the check into his personal bank account on December 18, 2008. Deloach then wrote Wingfield numerous checks over a period of time out of his personal bank account totaling $23,500.00 . Deloach received $1,500.00 for aiding Wingfield in defrauding Union Bethel Family Church. John Cobb later went to a bank in St. Francisville, LA and cashed in the check for $80,000.00 in exchange for two cashier’s checks. Cobb wrote one cashier’s check to E.C. Construction in the amount of $15,000.00. The second cashier’s check was written to Union Bethel Family Church in the amount of $65,000.00. Cobb then endorsed the cashier’s check written to E.C. Construction and cashed the check at a Zachary, LA credit union before depositing $13,000.00 dollars of the cash into his personal bank account. Cobb then deposited the second cashier’s check into the bank account of Union Bethel Family Church that same day to cover the two checks written from the Union Bethel Family Church banking account to used pay John Perry and David Deloach. Detectives also discovered during the course of the investigation that John Cobb received and cashed several other checks from Union Bethel Family Church for work that he never performed, totaling over $6000.00 from May 2009 through February 2010. State Police detectives charged the following individuals with Felony Theft in excess of $500 and booked them into the West Feliciana Parish Jail: John Cobb, B/M, age 58 Carol Cob, B/F, age 48 John B. Perry, B/M, age 62 David DeLoach, B/M, age 55 Oliver Wingfield, B/M, age 79 Louisa A. Jones, B/F, age 67 George Veal, B/M, age 61
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