Church Volunteer Allegedly Stole Half a Million Dollars

Taisha Smith-DeJoseph allegedly used embezzled money to pay for her wedding
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2020 2:40 PM CST
Stolen Church Money Allegedly Paid for Her Wedding
Taisha Smith-DeJoseph.   (Burlington County Prosecutor's Office)

Weddings aren't cheap—unless someone else is footing the bill. New Jersey authorities allege that very arrangement played out in the case of Taisha Smith-DeJoseph, who they say embezzled $561,777 from the church whose finances she oversaw as a volunteer, per a press release. The 43-year-old has been charged with 13 crimes in connection with her alleged activities at St. Paul's Baptist Church in Florence, reports NJ.com.

The church itself reached out to the Financial Crimes Unit of the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office after fearing money was missing. The probe uncovered bank accounts that Smith-DeJoseph opened that were ostensibly for the church but were allegedly used instead by Smith-DeJoseph to pay for her wedding, rent, car loan, credit card, and other bills over a 5-year period that ended in March 2019, reports WPVI. (More embezzlement stories.)

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