Woman Charged in Church Embezzlement

Santa Ana - A Santa Ana woman charged with embezzling more than $129,000 from a Tustin church where she worked as a bookkeeper is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, prosecutors said today.

Elyse Marie Kennedy, 37, is charged with 154 counts of felony forgery and could face up to 107 years in prison if convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Sean O'Brien.

While working as bookkeeper at St. Paul's Episcopal Church between 2007 and 2009, Kennedy was solely responsible for overseeing the church's financial records and allegedly wrote 154 checks to herself from the church's bank accounts, O'Brien said.

In January 2009, a church employee who came in early saw Kennedy leaving and discovered the church's financial records were gone, O'Brien said.

Kennedy never showed up for work again, and church officials discovered the missing money after checking with their bank, he said.

Kennedy was charged last August and was arrested Dec. 27 in Santa Ana, O'Brien said.

She was also wanted for a probation violation stemming from a guilty plea to felony grand theft in August 2005, O'Brien said.