The former San Juan Bautista Chamber of Commerce board president
accused of embezzling about $16,000 from the organization has been
charged on suspicion of grand theft and will next appear in court
Aug. 19, according to records.
The former San Juan Bautista Chamber of Commerce board president accused of embezzling about $16,000 from the organization has been charged on suspicion of grand theft and will next appear in court Aug. 19, according to records.
Carolyn Roe-Gargiulo, who lives near Hollister, was charged by the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office in June suspected of felony grand theft embezzlement. It came months after an investigation by the sheriff’s office resulting in a recommendation for the charge, to which she pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she could spend up to a year in the county jail.
Her name had been listed incorrectly in the court database, so a search of her actual name did not immediately call up on the record.
The charge alleges that between Jan. 6 and Jan. 19 of 2009, Roe-Gargiulo – also known as Carolyn Roe – committed the grand theft by embezzlement. Her attorney is Gregory LaForge, whom she retained privately. She was not required to get booked into the San Benito County Jail, LaForge confirmed.
Investigators allege Roe-Gargiulo’s forging of chamber checks lasted about a year until early 2009, totaling $15,545. Suspicions on the board first arose in June, according to a signed declaration from chamber official Donna Holmes. It was included in a lawsuit Gargiulo and Christine Dreifuss, another former chamber official, had filed against the organization. That suit earlier this year was dismissed.
Holmes testified in the statement that at the time, Roe-Gargiulo refused to allow an elected treasurer to take over her position and she declined to hand over records, including the chamber checkbook. The president had kept the checkbook and had written out and printed all checks on her own, according to the declaration.
Holmes has testified that board members noticed “irregularities” with deposits in the chamber bank account failing to match the amount of collected funds. They also noticed how a signature on a chamber check appeared unauthentic.
The chamber, as most organizations do, required two signatures on all checks, according to the court documents. Roe-Gargiulo and Dreifuss were authorized on the signature cards at San Benito Bank. Holmes testified that in June 2009, she discovered what appeared as a forged signature of Dreifuss’ name on a $1,000 check written to “cash.”
Holmes contends in the suit that when board members confronted her, Dreifuss acknowledged it was not her signature, according to the documents. Holmes also claims that Dreifuss acknowledged she had given oral permission to Roe-Gargiulo allowing her to sign the then-vice president’s name on chamber checks.
The lawsuit declaration lists off other circumstances causing suspicion among board members. It notes as one of them how Holmes and another board member noticed a check given to the Merchant’s Association of San Juan for $3,120 and how it was paid to “cash,” which she referred to as “unusual.” They contend they discovered $1,000 had been withdrawn and $2,000 deposited into the chamber bank account, and that there lacked a proper paper trail, such as receipts, to show where the money went. Holmes goes on to allege that eventually all of the $3,000 was withdrawn, and how bank records confirmed Roe-Gargiulo handled the transaction.
Board members contend that in June 2009 they asked Roe-Gargiulo to account for the apparently missing funds, and that she could not do so. Their peers followed up by passing a vote of no confidence against the two and asked them to resign, which they did. The board went on to elect George Dias as interim president and Holmes as interim vice president.
In the lawsuit, the two petitioners were alleging defamation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and interference with a perspective business advantage, according to the suit. They are seeking damages, lawsuit costs, attorney’s fees and further relief deemed appropriate by the court.
