Evergreen Reporter

A former official of a charity in St. Louis County has been indicted for allegedly embezzling nearly $690,000 over more than ten years. Joelle Fouse, 57, is facing three felony counts of wire fraud and is set to appear in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, where she plans to plead not guilty.

The indictment claims that Fouse served as the manager and director of finance and human resources for the charity from October 2012 until her termination in December 2023. During her tenure, she was responsible for payroll, expense reimbursement, and maintaining financial records. According to the indictment, Fouse engaged in fraudulent activities by providing false information to a third-party payroll processing company. This led to 71 unauthorized payments totaling $139,810 being made to bank accounts under her control.

Furthermore, the indictment accuses Fouse of initiating 181 unauthorized expense payments into accounts she managed, amounting to $407,186. Additionally, she allegedly made 184 unauthorized purchases with a company credit card totaling $133,210. The inflated payroll also resulted in an overpayment of approximately $10,694 in employer payroll taxes.

Fouse reportedly used the embezzled funds for personal expenses such as travel, clothing, entertainment, dining out, rent payments and other daily costs for herself and her family members. She allegedly attempted to conceal her actions by making false entries in financial records.

The charity reported the situation to the FBI and assisted with their investigation into these allegations.

It is important to note that charges outlined in an indictment are merely accusations at this stage; every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

If convicted on each wire fraud charge brought against her by Assistant U.S Attorney Hal Goldsmith's prosecution team following FBI investigations—Fouse could face up-to-20-years imprisonment per charge along with fines reaching up-to-$250k or both penalties combined