Fraud Friday- Woman Embezzles Over $450,000 From a Church Program for the Underserved
July 16, 2021
Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor
Fraud Friday- Woman Embezzles Over $450,000 From a Church Program for the Underserved
Lisa Dawn Stabeno of Lubbock, Texas accepted a plea deal after embezzling over $450,000 from Church on the Rock. She worked there from 2013 to 2018 as an Accounts Manager and bookkeeper for their “Dream Center”, an outreach program for underserved individuals. Stabeno is accused of using church credit cards to pay personal expenses, and she was indicted with six counts of bank fraud.
The six counts are as follows:
- On July 16, 2014, Lisa used a church credit card to pay off a family member’s medical debts ($4,812.16).
- On October 2, 2014, she paid for a family member’s rent with the same church credit card from the first count ($1,377).
- On June 23, 2015, she used the same church credit card to pay off a final car loan payment ($1,293.33).
- On June 26, 2017, Stabeno used a different church credit card to pay a $3,500 credit card balance for one of her family members.
- On July 18, 2017, she used the church credit card from the fourth charge to pay off a family members credit card balance worth $14, 701.69.
- On April 15, 2018, she used a church credit card to pay $4,020.76 on her daughter’s credit card balance.
It is alleged that she also used the credit cards to pay for supplies at her bakery, pay her employees at the bakery, and take her family on trips to places like LegoLand and Six Flags over Texas.
She plead guilty to count three and six. She faces up to thirty years in prison, a fine not exceeding $1 million, up to five years of supervised release, and possible restitution to the victims and community.
Lisa Stabeno, also known as Lisa Mack, faced two charges of felony theft in 2012. She was a former Valley View Hospital employee in Colorado, and she stole $177,000 from another employee. It was alleged that she stole $226,000 from the hospital and the employee, but as part of a plea bargain, the charges regarding stealing from the hospital were dropped. Lisa was sentenced to fifty days in jail, eight years of probation, and $177,000 in restitution.