Former Lexington County GOP chair accused of stealing more than $113K from party, rotary
A former chair of the Lexington County Republican Party is accused of stealing more than $61,000 from the organization.
On Friday, the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division announced it had charged Craig Caldwell, 42, with two counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent (value $10,000 or more) after being requested to investigate by the party.
“Caldwell did in Lexington County, South Carolina, while serving as the chairman of the Lexington County Republican Party from 2016 through April 2023, willfully and unlawfully take $61,591 from the Lexington County Republican Party bank account,” a provided arrest warrant states. “The funds were transferred by Caldwell into his personal bank account. There were 147 total transfers from 2018 through 2023. Caldwell further admitted to covering these transfers up by falsifying monthly treasurer’s reports to submit to the other members of the party.”
Caldwell didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Lexington County Republican Party Chairman Mark Weber said Caldwell has not attended party functions since his term ended in April 2023.
“The Lexington County Republican Party believes we should receive the funds identified by SLED and we should be made whole,” Weber said . “We have no opinion in the matter of pursuing criminal charges and would defer to the Solicitor’s office. ”
Caldwell was ousted as chair of the party in 2023.
He is also accused of stealing more than $52,000 from the Lexington County Rotary Foundation.
“Caldwell wrote eleven checks to himself from the foundation account while he was the treasurer of the Lexington Rotary Club Foundation. Caldwell attempted to hide the withdrawals from other board members by not putting the checks into their accounting software,” a provided arrest warrant states.
This story will continue to be updated.
This story was originally published July 12, 2024 at 12:26 PM.
.jpg)