GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — An East Tennessee woman is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a Greeneville dance team booster club and running its finances into the red, according to an investigation by the state comptroller's office.
The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's office said Kimberly Brown formerly served as treasurer for the Greeneville School Support Corporation's dance team booster club between June 2020 and March 2023. The booster club supported dance teams at Greeneville Middle School and Greeneville High School, until July 2022 when a separate club was formed to support just GMS.
Brown was responsible for collecting and depositing any money the booster club earned from fees and fundraisers to pay for team expenses, including uniforms and competition fees. The booster club was eventually dissolved in March 2023 after its bank account kept a negative balance for months. GHS now handles its dance team's finances.
The comptroller's office was called to investigate allegations of malfeasance related to the club. Investigators said they pulled records filed between Jan. 2018 and March 2023 and discovered Brown had misappropriated more than $6,000 between Sept. 2021 and Nov. 2022.
According to investigators, Brown stole most of that money by writing checks to herself and a family member totaling more than $5,600. Brown admitted she used most of the money to pay for personal medical bills, according to investigators.
The investigative report said Brown claimed some of those checks she wrote were meant to reimburse herself for some orders. The comptroller said she provided three sales orders and an invoice to investigators to prove her claim, and investigators later determined she had fabricated those four documents after confirming it with club vendors.
"Investigators identified formatting, spelling, and calculation errors on the fabricated documents. Brown handwrote credit card numbers and confirmation numbers on each document to validate the reimbursement. Investigators confirmed with the club vendors that the documents were not for valid orders and that the club vendors did not have a record of payment using the credit card numbers Brown provided," the investigative report said.
Brown is also charged with knowingly writing worthless club checks. According to the report, she wrote a $5,044 check when the club's account balance was down to $1.38. The check was meant to pay for the high school dance team's attendance at a dance camp.
"Brown admitted to investigators that she knew the club’s bank account did not have enough funds to cover the check amount, but she issued and mailed it anyway. The check cleared the club’s bank account on January 20, 2023, resulting in a $35.00 overdraft fee and an overdrawn account balance. Brown attempted to obtain sponsorships to cover the negative account balance, but she only collected and deposited $1,000.00 of sponsorship funds in February and March 2023," the report said.
The bank account remained in the red until the GSSC deposited money to pay off the negative balance in March 2023, at which point the account was closed and the booster club was dissolved.
The comptroller said Brown also made more than $7,000 in "questionable" disbursements from the booster club fund between July 2020 until it was dissolved, including $4,652 in checks that went to herself and her family. Investigators said they couldn't determine if these disbursements were lawful or if they benefited the club's operations because Brown didn't keep receipts or invoices for them.
The comptroller said Brown also did not deposit at least $3,400 in expected collections from cookie sales and a dance clinic fundraiser. Investigators said Brown did not provide them with records as required by state code, so they obtained orders and details from other sources.
A grand jury indicted Brown on April 16 following the investigation. She was charged with one count of theft of property over $2,500, one count of writing worthless checks over $2,500, five counts of forgery, four counts of criminal simulation and four counts of fabricating evidence.
The comptroller's office said the investigation also revealed several issues with how the club was run that might have contributed to financial fraud going undetected. It said former club officers didn't properly keep accurate records and failed to split up Brown's duties as treasurer to others to prevent her from having sole exclusive control over finances, among other things.
“Our investigators identified a number of deficiencies in how this club handled its financial operations,” said Comptroller Jason Mumpower. “These problems included not maintaining adequate records, signing blank checks, failing to deposit funds within three days, and not submitting proper fundraiser approval forms.”