Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents arrested Carolyn Eulena Pilgrim, 41, of Cape Coral, on Tuesday, on one count of scheme to defraud, over $50,000, and one count of grand theft, over $100,000, both first-degree felonies.
The investigation began in August 2022, when a company contacted FDLE regarding suspected embezzlement by Pilgrim, a former employee who had been in charge of the company’s accounting department.
Agents discovered that Pilgrim had deposited more than $3,000,000 in checks made payable to the company into a separate account under her control, using her position to ensure other employees were unaware that the payments were being used for her benefit.
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The investigation also found that she abused her position to authorize payroll in her name from the company’s other locations, supplementing her $70,000 salary with more than $575,000 in fraudulently obtained payroll payments.
Both schemes lasted from 2017 through 2022. The investigation is ongoing.
Pilgrim was booked into the Lee County Jail on a no-bond status pending a first appearance. The case will be prosecuted by Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
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