SC woman who officials say embezzled over $445K from a church faces new charges
A woman who was previously charged with embezzling nearly half a million from the church where she worked was arrested again Monday, according to the South Carolina Department of Revenue.
The new charges that 55-year-old Greenwood resident Shelley C. Strickland faces are connected to her 2024 arrest, but she’s not back in jail on charges of stealing from the church. Strickland was charged with seven counts of tax evasion because she never declared the $445,000-plus that she’s accused of illegally taking from First Baptist Church of Ware Shoals, the S.C. Department of Revenue said in a news release.
From 2018 through 2024 Strickland was employed by First Baptist Church of Ware Shoals, according to the release. Information about her job title with the church was not available.
In August 2024, Strickland was arrested and charged with breach of trust, obtaining property under false tokens (value $10,000 or more) and breach of trust with fraudulent intent (value $10,000 or more), Greenwood County court records show. Strickland posted bond and those charges are pending, according to court records.
During the years that Strickland worked for the church, arrest warrants show that she embezzled more than $445,000 from the church and converted it to her personal use, the S.C. Department of Revenue said. Information about what Strickland did with that money, and if she spent it, was not available.
What she didn’t do was include that money as income on her South Carolina individual income tax returns for those years, according to the release. As a result, she evaded at least $29,626 in state income tax, the S.C. Department of Revenue said.
That led to Monday’s arrest on the tax evasion charges. No bond has been set for Strickland, who was locked up in the Greenwood County Detention Center, jail records show.
Following a bond hearing, Strickland is scheduled to return to court on the tax evasion charges on June 12, judicial records show.
If convicted on the felony tax evasion charges, Strickland faces a maximum punishment of 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count, according to South Carolina law.
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