A DeLand woman accused of stealing almost $60,000 from a daycare she ran used the money to buy plane tickets, order take out, remodel her bathroom, pay her dentist, and buy an engagement ring, among other personal things, Volusia County sheriff’s investigators said.
Jennifer Olson, 40, the former director of Merry Day Childcare of Grace Chapel Church in DeLand, was arrested on Wednesday, Nov. 5, and charged with money laundering, organized scheme to defraud, and grand theft over $20,000. She was locked up in the Volusia County Branch Jail on Thursday, Nov. 6, on $55,000 bail.
Investigating sheriff’s deputies said that between January and November 2024, Olson, who was also treasurer/secretary for Grace Chapel Church, stole at least $59,185.50 from the accounts of the childcare and church.
Request for large withdrawal from DeLand Publix raises alarm
The head pastor of Grace Chapel Church told investigators he became suspicious toward the end of 2024 when the church received a large withdrawal request from a DeLand Publix. The request was denied, the report stated.
The pastor said he confronted Olson about the withdrawal request. She initially denied any wrong-doing but when she was further questioned, Olson said that it was only “a one time deal” because she had “fallen on hard times,” her arrest report pointed out.
Olson then resigned Nov. 18, 2024 as director and treasurer/secretary and officials with the church ordered an audit, investigating deputies said.
Pastor of Grace Chapel Church shocked at result of audit
The pastor told deputies that he was flabbergasted when he learned of the audit’s results.
In reviewing the evidentiary documents, deputies said that they discovered that Olson used money from the daycare and the church to pay for multiple Amazon Prime video charges, food expenses from Doordash, dinners at local restaurants and her credit card bills.
She also paid for fuel at multiple gas stations outside of the DeLand area, trips that had nothing to do with childcare business, the report states.
She also paid $780.50 to Aspen Dental in Port Orange, and also used $2,241.71 for an engagement ring from Zales Diamond Store. She spent $467 on Allegiant Airlines tickets and spent $2,405.77 of the stolen money to remodel her bathroom, investigators said.
The engagement ring was not Olson’s but a childcare employee, who had asked Olson to front the money because he didn’t want his girlfriend to know of the engagement, but he paid Olson the money in cash. Olson bought the ring using the daycare’s money but did not reimburse it, her arrest report states.
Put her husband on daycare’s payroll
Investigators also discovered that Olson, who was paid $20 an hour, on one occasion paid herself overtime that was not authorized, and made herself an additional paycheck for $500 on another occasion, investigators said.
The audit also revealed that Olson put her husband, a fulltime Publix employee who did occasional handyman work for the childcare, on the business’s payroll. She paid him $20 an hour which was higher than what the childcare employees earned, the report stated.
The paper trail also led investigating deputies to a Wells Fargo bank account in the name of Olson and her husband where 39 unauthorized Zelle transactions were made. The money taken was $37,337.89, investigators said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Officials accuse former DeLand childcare director of stealing nearly $60K
Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
