A North Carolina couple is accused of stealing $200,000 from a high school booster club and using COVID-19-relief business loans to cover their crime, federal authorities said.

Anthony and Deana Sharper both are charged with wire fraud, which carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine upon a conviction, The Charlotte Observer reported.

Anthony Sharper also is accused of a range of additional crimes, including making false statements to a financial institution and filing a false tax return. If convicted of all charges, he faces decades in prison and millions of dollars in penalties.

The charges involve Charlotte’s South Mecklenburg High School, where Anthony Sharper Sr. was club president and Deana Sharper served as concession stand and school store coordinator, according to court documents.

According to the indictment, over a three-year period starting in 2017, the Sharpers wrote more than $100,000 in checks to themselves for fraudulent reimbursements, wired booster club money directly to their personal bank accounts and also used booster credit and debit cards to run up thousands of dollars in personal expenses across six states.

In 2020, Sharper filed for pandemic-related economic relief for both the booster club and his own accounting firm. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says all three applications were built on fake revenue, payroll and employment numbers, leading to Sharper receiving $236,000 in relief loans from two banks.

He used $40,000 of the federal loan money on South Mecklenburg High’s playing fields, painting the offices of the school’s coaches and purchasing sports equipment, according to the indictment. He used another $25,000 of the money set aside for pandemic relief for businesses to pay down the outstanding balance on the booster club credit card, the indictment said.

Anthony Sharper did not respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment, and his attorney, Chris Young of Washington, said his client had no comment Wednesday.

Lead photo via the Charlotte Observer. 

 

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