Former Central Kentucky church treasurer pleads guilty to stealing more than $500,000
A Georgetown man who worked as a treasurer for a local church in Scott County has accepted a plea agreement in federal court after he was found to have stolen more than $500,000, according to court records.
Ralph Tackett allegedly stole $512,042 from the church and used the funds for his own personal benefit over the course of nearly four years, according to court documents.
A charge was filed against him in federal court Monday, as well as a plea agreement which he had previously signed. Federal prosecutors indicated last month that they planned to charge him.
Tackett served as the treasurer for the church, and was in charge of their financial affairs including approving and processing payments, managing mortgage payments, depositing cash offerings, and overseeing the church’s bank accounts, according to court records. The church wasn’t named in court records.
Court documents state Tackett routinely transferred funds to an out-of-state individual, “who made financial demands to him,” in small amounts that totaled $325,000. The transactions spanned from December 2015 to July 2019.
In addition, he transferred around $187,356 to pay his own personal credit card debts in increments of $1,000 or less.
He routinely issued church checks payable to his spouse without her knowledge and cashed and deposited them into his own personal and business accounts, according to court records.
Tackett transmitted some of the money through bank transfers with the church’s WesBanco checking account to his personal American Express credit card, according to court records.
Tackett would then allegedly create monthly reports for the church operating account and provide them to the pastor which contained material misrepresentations about the flow of money in and out of the account, according to court records. He also omitted material facts about the authorized transfers he made.
Court documents did not identify the church.
Tackett faces a punishment of no more than 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, and a term of supervised release of no more than three years.
Tackett’s attorney was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 2:35 PM.
