Seven years, $402,655 and one person with access to the church accounts

What happened

On Monday, July 6, 2026, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) charged Latrise Seward, 54, with breach of trust with fraudulent intent, value $10,000 or more. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office had asked SLED to investigate.

According to the warrant reported by WIS, Seward was treasurer of Mechanicsville United Methodist Church in Lee County. Investigators say that between January 1, 2018, and August 29, 2025, she used her access to the church’s bank accounts to make unauthorized personal purchases totaling $402,655.45. The Christian Post described them as hundreds of purchases. Investigators say she admitted to making them. The charges are allegations.

This was not an isolated case this year. Church treasurers in North Carolina, Virginia and Texas were also charged in 2026 with taking tens of thousands of dollars each, often through debit cards or forged checks.

What safety teams can take from it

• No one person should control the money. Require two signatures or approvals on payments, and keep the person who writes checks separate from the person who reconciles the statements.
• Someone else reads the bank statements. Have statements mailed or emailed straight to a second leader every month, not just the treasurer.
• Lock down church cards. Set low limits, require receipts within a week, and review every charge. Debit cards linked to the main account are especially risky.
• Audit every year. An outside review, or at least a committee that isn’t the treasurer, catches problems before they last seven years.
• Rotate and require time off. Long-term schemes often unravel when someone else covers the job. Term limits and a mandatory break for financial roles help.