The former San Juan Bautista Chamber of Commerce board president
accused of grand theft embezzlement has had two preliminary
settings delayed, and the proceedings are scheduled to commence
Tuesday at the San Benito County Courthouse.
The former San Juan Bautista Chamber of Commerce board president accused of grand theft embezzlement has had two preliminary settings delayed, and the proceedings are scheduled to commence Tuesday at the San Benito County Courthouse.
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.
Roe-Gargiulo, also known as Carolyn Roe, had an Aug. 19 preliminary setting pushed back to the date scheduled for next week, on Sept. 7. That hearing is set for 2 p.m. in courtroom 101 at the San Benito County Courthouse, according to records.
The grand theft charge alleges that between Jan. 6 and Jan. 19 of 2009, Roe-Gargiulo committed the embezzlement by forging checks. Her attorney is Gregory LaForge.
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.
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.
If convicted, Roe-Gargiulo could face up to three years in prison.
