Evelyn Bethune, the granddaughter of Bethune-Cookman University founder Mary McLeod Bethune, was arrested Thursday and charged with an organized scheme to defraud and two counts of grand theft totaling over $23,000, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.
The 66-year-old Bethune served as treasurer of the Daytona Chapter of the National League of American Pen Women and used her position to defraud the local and national group, the charging affidavit says.
By moving the group’s money to a bank account under her control, Bethune was able to use its funds to buy personal items including a visit to a nail salon, florist and chiropractor, the affidavit says.
“Bethune has (written) several emails advising that the money is frozen in Bethune-Cookman endowment funds and she plans to pay it back when the funds unfreeze,” the affidavit says. “The bank statements clearly show that is not where these funds have gone and Evelyn Bethune willfully and intention(ally) deprived these organizations of their funds. The Daytona chapter was on the verge of being shut down due to all their funds being depleted by Evelyn Bethune.”
Bethune has ties to a number of organizations that bear her grandmother’s name. She has no formal relationship with B-CU, Clifford Porter, vice president of institutional advancement, said in an emailed statement.
She was a member of the club for four to five years and served as treasurer since May of 2016, said Janie Owens, president of the Daytona chapter of the National League of American Pen Women.
Owens said she first discovered money was missing in February after asking to see the club’s recent bank statements. Club members never saw it coming, she said.
“If you’ve ever met her, she’s very charismatic and we all loved her,” she said. “We certainly didn’t expect anything like this, so we got fooled.”
The Washington, D.C.-based not-for-profit dates back to 1897 and is dedicated to the production or art, writing and music. The local chapter provides scholarships to college students in Volusia County. Owens estimated the loss to be around $17,000.
She said she was saddened by the theft.
“We’re not loaded with money, and to lose our entire treasury was quite a shock,” Owens said. “We have no money to give them now.”
Bethune has had a number of prior run-ins with the law. She was charged with grand theft and issuing worthless checks in 1990. In 1995, the University of Florida alleged Bethune misappropriated funds while she was leading the university’s Institute of Black Culture. She pleaded no contest to felony fraud and larceny and misdemeanor petty theft, and was placed on probation for five years, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report.
Bethune disclosed at least some of her past run-ins to the club, Owens said.
“She was very honest with us and told us this was all a big mistake in her past and a misunderstanding,” she said.
While Bethune lists herself as the managing director of the Mary McLeod Bethune Educational Legacy Foundation on Facebook, the site is largely empty.
Records from Sunbiz.org show at least two companies under her name including the Mary McLeod Bethune Legacy Preservation Institute, which is inactive, and the Mary McLeod Bethune Legacy Corp.
A Guidestar search revealed no organizations under those names.
Owens asked that anyone who wants to make donations to the local chapter send them to the National League of American Pen Women at 759 Navigators Way, Edgewater, FL 32141.
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