Huntersville, North Carolina, Christian school files fraud and embezzlement report after headmaster resigns

The SouthLake Christian Academy filed a report alleging fraud and embezzlement with Huntersville police over the weekend, according to police. The report was submitted just after 10 a.m. Saturday at the academy’s campus on Hager’s Ferry Road in Huntersville, North Carolina.

The school’s former headmaster, Wayne Parker, resigned as chief financial officer last month. According to the school’s lawyer, Robert Sawyer, the resignation sent a shock wave through the faculty. Sawyer said the abrupt and unexpected departure prompted an investigation, or a review, of Parker’s work. “As part of that investigation, we discovered evidence of potentially serious financial misbehavior and criminal conduct,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer also said the review raised questions about Pastor Wade Mallory, the long-time senior pastor of the church connected to the academy. “It was also discovered that Pastor Wade Mallory may have been involved in that as well,” Sawyer said. He added that Mallory resigned a week from the Sunday prior to the account being given. Sawyer did not describe the nature of Mallory’s possible involvement, and these claims have not been tested in court.

Parents have said they are only beginning to understand the problem, which they describe as reaching from the top of the school’s leadership to its core. One parent said the school has a history of being “tight-lipped” about its finances. Anger has grown among parents, both over the limited details shared so far and over how long it took for the matter to reach them.

Sawyer said the church that oversees the school had been uncertain about whether to report its suspicions to authorities. “The church takes their belief very seriously and it takes the teachings of the Bible very seriously, so there’s a debate within the church whether they should report it to authorities,” he said. Honest dealing with money is a matter of accountability (Proverbs 11:1). Sawyer said the evidence “certainly indicates significant criminal behavior and financial mismanagement,” but said he could not provide many details. “As I stand here today, I don’t even know the extent of it,” he said. “How far it’s gone, how long it’s happened, or how much has been potentially misappropriated.”

Police told WBTV that the school filed its report one day after WBTV’s story aired.

Source: Read the original report