加州South Lake Tahoe前市长Wallace认罪：任教会簿记员六年挪用约39万美元，最高面临20年监禁
位于加州埃尔多拉多县的 South Lake Tahoe 市前市长 Tamara Le Ann Wallace（56岁）10月29日在 Sacramento 联邦法院承认一项电汇欺诈罪，承认自己在当地一家教会担任兼职簿记员期间，六年多时间里挪用教会资金约39万美元。加州东区联邦检察官 Eric Grant 宣布了这一认罪。
法庭文件显示，Wallace 2018年起在该教会工作，受托管理财务、支付账单、监控预算并维护教会的数字财务记录。她能接触教会的银行账户，在任职的大部分时间里是唯一能进入教会数字会计系统的人，但她无权把教会资金用于个人开支。
2019年4月至2025年9月间，Wallace 以开具虚假报销支票给自己的方式挪用教会资金，谎称是偿还她从未发生的开支；她还把教会资金以未经授权的电子转账方式转入自己控制的账户。为掩盖盗窃，她在教会账目中篡改财务记录。赃款被她用于房租、旅行等个人开支。
检方指出，Wallace 的行为险些迫使这家教会关门，教会不得不削减项目、多次贷款，并为逾期账单支付滞纳金与利息。Wallace 已于2025年10月辞去市长职务。
Wallace 定于2027年1月14日由联邦地区法官 Troy L. Nunley 量刑，法定最高刑为20年监禁与25万美元罚款，实际刑期将由法院综合法定因素与联邦量刑指南裁定。本案由联邦调查局（FBI）与埃尔多拉多县地方检察官办公室调查，助理联邦检察官 Nicholas M. Fogg 负责起诉。
Former South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wallace Pleads Guilty: Embezzled About $390,000 From Church as Part-Time Bookkeeper Over Six Years, Faces Up to 20 Years
Tamara Le Ann Wallace, 56, of South Lake Tahoe, a city in El Dorado County, California, and the city's former mayor, pleaded guilty on October 29 in federal court in Sacramento to one count of wire fraud arising from a years-long scheme in which she embezzled about $390,000 from a South Lake Tahoe church where she was employed as a part-time bookkeeper, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
According to court documents, Wallace began working for the church in 2018, where she was entrusted with managing finances, paying bills, monitoring the budget, and maintaining the church's digital financial records. She had access to the church's bank account and was the only individual with access to the church's digital accounting system for most of her tenure. She was not authorized to spend church funds for personal use.
Between April 2019 and September 2025, Wallace embezzled church funds for her own benefit by issuing reimbursement checks to herself, falsely claiming they were repayments for expenses she never incurred. She also made unauthorized electronic transfers into accounts she controlled. To conceal her theft, she falsified financial entries in the church's records. She spent the stolen funds on personal expenses including rent and travel.
Her actions nearly caused the church to shut down, forcing it to reduce programming, take out multiple loans, and pay late fees and interest on overdue bills. Wallace resigned from her public office in October 2025.
Wallace is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on January 14, 2027. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, with the actual sentence to be determined by the court after consideration of applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Fogg is prosecuting the case.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：加州太浩湖翡翠湾（Emerald Bay），South Lake Tahoe 位于太浩湖南岸。Frank Schulenburg 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe, California; South Lake Tahoe sits on the lake's south shore. Photo by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
