Missing $1 million linked to employee

A Chatsworth, Ga., woman is charged in connection with the theft of more than $1 million from a Dalton, Ga., insurance business.

Carolyn Lynn Cherry, 63, was arraigned Thursday in Rome, Ga., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Walter Johnson and released, said Patrick Crosby, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman.

Ms. Cherry, the former bookkeeper for a Dalton insurance business -- identified in the legal documents as "R.I." -- faces federal charges of mail fraud and bank fraud, Mr. Crosby said.

She began working for the Dalton company in March 2003, he said.

The Dalton Police Department began an investigation in August 2009, after a local bank notified the employers that some suspicious activity was going on, said Bruce Frazier, the police department's spokesman.

"The (bank) reported that some of the business checks were being used to pay a credit card account belonging to Carolyn Cherry," Mr. Frazier said. "That sped the wheels in motion for the investigation."

The case was handed over to the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. attorney's office in October for further investigation, he said.

After investigating, the U.S. attorney's office reported that Ms. Cherry had used forged checks to pay several banks and then used her credit cards to pay for several trips to Disney World and Disney resorts, Mr. Crosby said.

She's also accused of using her credit cards to fund numerous trips to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Honolulu and for buying hundreds of items from television shopping networks, he said.

A federal grand jury indicted Ms. Cherry on Jan. 12, Mr. Crosby said.

"No other court date has been set," he said. "(But) she awaits trial."