Andrews – A local woman has been charged with embezzling thousands of dollars from the Andrews Youth Basketball Association over several years.
Stacey Lynette Neal, 37, of Andrews, is accused of embezzling more than $6,600 from 2016-21 through her position as treasurer for the youth basketball organization. Neal is an employee with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Clay County Sheriff Bobby Deese said Neal works in a human resources capacity and is on administrative leave.
According to Cherokee County Chief Deputy Joe Wood, investigators obtained receipts from multiple retailers showing Neal made a variety of purchases inconsistent with the needs of the youth league.
“We found several items bought through Amazon that weren’t consistent such as a phone case and other miscellaneous items,” Wood said. “We obtained receipts from Walmart, again, for things that weren’t consistent with basketball.”
Wood said the sheriff’s office received information about the alleged embezzlement near the end of 2021 and had been investigating the case since then. Neal was booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center on March 9 on charges of embezzlement of less than $100,000 and two counts of obtaining property by false pretense.
“Some new members (of the basketball association) went through the bank account and found what they thought to be $6,635 ... used for items that were not consistent with the basketball league,” Wood said. “We see this quite often in embezzlement cases. When a new board comes in and they go through the books, that’s typically when you find things if anything has occurred.”