Griffith charged with stealing from church

CSR owner Ken Pippin

CSR owner Ken Pippin

A local woman faces an array of charges for ripping off a local church this summer, defrauding the congregation of more than $2,000.

Lawmen say the suspect, Donna R. Griffith, attended church at Cornerstone Baptist, the same church she went on to victimize numerous times using a stolen church debit/credit card. She also victimized fellow church member Charlotte Huff.

According to Sheriff Jackie Matheny, the fraud spree began when Griffith broke into the Huff home and stole the church debit card and several cards belonging to Huff. Griffith then went on a theft spree, passing the cards like they belonged to her, purchasing numerous goods on numerous occasions. Matheny said most of her fraudulent purchases using the church card came at Wal-Mart while she used Huff’s JCPenney and Cato cards at the respective businesses.

Griffith was caught after bills began to come in over the summer, reflecting purchases those entrusted with the finances of the church knew they had not made.

Her indictments for the spree include one count of aggravated burglary for breaking into Huff’s home, 29 counts of forgery, three counts of fraud and five counts of theft.