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NC woman accused of taking $130,000 from church turns self in

VANCEBORO, N.C. (AP) — Craven County sheriff’s deputies say a Vanceboro woman has turned herself in after learning she was being sought on accusations of embezzling from a local church.

Capt. John Whitfield told the Sun Journal of New Bern (http://bit.ly/2j7X6uS) that 47-year-old Jewel Hardy Scott turned herself in Monday.

Scott is charged with four counts of felony embezzlement, two counts felony forgery of instrument, forgery of instrument, and obtaining property by false pretense.

It was not known if she has an attorney.

Investigators say Scott was the financial secretary of Queen Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in Vanceboro from 2012 to 2016.

The sheriff’s office said she took $130,000 by writing checks to herself. The church discovered the missing funds when it started receiving notices of insufficient funds and did an audit.