17 Felony Charges Against Former Church Employee in Lafayette
LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A former administrative assistant at Heartland Community Church in Lafayette is facing 17 felony charges after defrauding the church of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Julia Wonnacott, 36, is accused of using her position to illicitly transfer funds from the church’s bank accounts to her personal accounts for a variety of personal expenses.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department began an investigation on August 20, 2024, after Wonnacott reportedly admitted to church employees that she had been taking money. Wonnacott, who began working at HCC in February 2020, had access to all of the church’s bank accounts as an administrative assistant before her abrupt resignation.
The affidavit details a scheme in which Wonnacott transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars from the church’s accounts to her personal PayPal account, at times leaving the accounts empty or overdrawn. She also reportedly made personal purchases on platforms like PayPal, Walmart, Target, and Amazon using the church’s bank accounts.
The allegedly stolen money was used to finance down payments on two vehicles and a house, airline tickets, surgery in Mexico, jewelry, designer purses, and various other personal purchases and expenses.
Wonnacott is also accused of using forged signatures of four HCC employees to apply for a $170,000 line of credit on behalf of the church. Police reportedly located a fraudulent loan application Wonnacott allegedly created in January 2024 and a fraudulent application for the Employee Retention Credit through the IRS in July 2024, though neither application was approved.
The charges against Wonnacott include fraud, corrupt business influence, and counterfeiting. The investigation is ongoing.
Johnette Cruz 93 WIBC News
Voicer 1: A former church employee is accused of stealing money in a fraud scheme. Johnette Cruz reports.
