Former Southlake Christian Academy Headmaster Wayne Parker Jr. Charged With Wire Fraud in $9 Million Embezzlement Case

A longtime church school headmaster has been accused of embezzling more than $9 million from Southlake Christian Academy in Huntersville and its affiliated church. Officials say the money was used to build a $1 million home and to pay for international travel, a boat and jet skis, luxury vehicles, Carolina Panthers preferred seats, gold and silver coins, and gifts for family and friends.

Wayne C. Parker Jr., 59, resigned as headmaster of the school in September 2014. He was charged Friday in federal court with wire fraud, according to a release from Jill Westmoreland Rose, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Rose said church members, parents, teachers, students, and donors had trusted Parker for more than a decade to lead the school and its mission. She said he misused his access to the school’s and church’s finances and repeatedly drew from their bank accounts to fund his lifestyle.

John Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, said Parker forced pay cuts for teachers to help finance the building of his $1 million lake home and the purchase of several other properties.

According to the court records and the release, Parker joined the church in 1991 and became a volunteer treasurer. He was hired as headmaster of Southlake Christian Academy in 1996. In that role, he was responsible for the school’s administration and finances and controlled its bank accounts.

Court documents allege that beginning in at least 2000, Parker took money from the church and school and used it for personal expenses. To conceal the alleged scheme, the documents say, he opened approximately 29 checking accounts, obtained 26 credit cards and seven loans, and created nine limited liability companies. The documents also allege that he used some of the funds to pay a co-conspirator’s personal expenses, including college tuition, medical bills, taxes, cars, and credit card bills.

Court documents further allege that in the summer of 2014, church leadership became suspicious of Parker’s activities and called for an independent audit. Parker is alleged to have taken and destroyed school financial records in an attempt to destroy evidence. Honest accounting was the step the church sought at that point, a matter of honest dealing (Proverbs 11:1).

Investigators said Parker sold one of the houses he had built with the allegedly embezzled funds to one of his children at a significantly undervalued price. They said the sale was intended to hide the alleged crimes and keep law enforcement from seizing the property.

Parker is expected to agree to a plea deal that would require him to pay restitution. The wire fraud charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine.

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