CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The former president of the South Mecklenburg High School booster club and his wife were sentenced to prison after investigators said they stole more than $230,000 from the booster club and used fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds to cover their tracks.
Anthony Sharper was sentenced to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in the crime. Sharper was also ordered to pay a $310,000 judgment. His wife, Deana Sharper, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $239,742.
Between 2017 and June 2020, the couple executed a scheme to defraud at least $239,000 from the South Meck booster club by writing checks to themselves for fake reimbursement. The couple would then wire the money to their personal bank account and used the booster club's credit and debit cards to pay personal expenses. Anthony Sharper, who is a certified public accountant, is also accused of committing tax fraud by failing to report the embezzled funds on the couple's 2018 and 2019 federal tax returns.
To cover up the theft, Anthony Sharper submitted three fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications between March and May 2020, court filings show. One of those was in the name of the booster club with another application being under his accounting firm. He received more than $236,000 in COVID-19 relief funds that were used to pay personal expenses and cover up the booster club theft.
Anthony Sharper previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud, making a false statement to a financial institution and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property and tax fraud. Deana Sharper pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
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