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(Raleigh, NC) – On December 12, 2023, the former Town Clerk/Finance Officer for the town of Chocowinity was arrested on embezzlement charges by agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s (SBI) Financial Crime Investigations Unit.

In August of 2022, the District Attorney for Beaufort County requested the SBI to investigate allegations of embezzlement involving Joy Annette McRoy, the former Town Clerk/Finance Officer of Chocowinity. On December 11, 2023, McRoy was indicted by a Beaufort County grand jury on three Class C counts (over $100,000) and five Class F counts (less than $100,000) of embezzlement by a public officer or employee (§14-92). While acting in her capacity as a town official, it was alleged that McRoy inflated her payroll and used town credit cards for personal purchases from 2015 to 2022. She’s alleged to have embezzled more than $500,000 during that time.

On the morning of Tuesday, December 12, 2023, McRoy turned herself in at the Beaufort County Detention Center. After going before a magistrate, she was issued a $100,000 secured bond and booked at the jail.