A former head of a charity circus organization in St. Louis is facing significant accusations after being charged with six embezzlement-related felonies. The former president of the circus’ board of directors, George S. Pace, is charged with embezzling more than $120,000 for his own benefit. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Pace was charged with fraud allegedly beginning in December 2022 and continuing through at least September 2023. The indictment was made public yesterday.
According to the indictment, the 61-year-old Ladue man paid for personal expenses including meals and horseback riding with two credit cards that were obtained covertly. Pace allegedly falsely stated that the bank had been notified and claimed the card was stolen when questioned about the expenditures.
Credit cards were just one aspect of Pace’s dishonest business tactics. He is also accused of transferring payments totaling more than $50,000 meant for the circus to his personal accounts and fabricating account statements to conceal his wrongdoing. Initially, the purpose of these cash was to lower a bank credit line that the circus owned. Additionally, donations that were supposed to go to the circus’s coffers inadvertently boosted Pace’s personal wealth.
The indictment went into further detail about Pace’s alleged misuse of disaster relief money meant for financially troubled companies. Pace allegedly falsely claimed $18,200 in bank account balance and income on Aug. 9, 2022, when he applied for a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Assistance Loan. Then, eleven days later, he allegedly applied for an additional $11,200 while hiding the fact that he had received two PPP loans totaling $38,515.
Each of the serious wire fraud allegations against Pace carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. It is important to remember that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law, even if the indictment is a formal allegation. This is the result of an FBI investigation, and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll.
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