Woman charged with fraud, forgery

RALEIGH — Police charged a 39-year-old woman today with obtaining thousands of dollars in cash by fraudulently cashing checks from the account of an woman who is a family member of a former North Carolina governor, authorities reported.

Police have charged Shannon Adrienne Poole of 307 Heck Street with three felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, according to arrest warrants filed today at the Wake County Magistrate's Office.

Poole, described as an eyebrow technician in court records, has been accused of taking "numerous checks belonging to the victim, Mary Broughton," to write unauthorized checks to herself, court records show.

The victim, 84, was described today by a family member as the daughter in-law of J. Melville Broughton who served as state governor from 1941 until 1945.

The family member, who declined to give her name, answered the phone this afternoon at the home of the elderly woman's son, Joseph M. Broughton III.

Joseph M. Broughton III first alerted police on July 30 about improprieties surrounding his mother's finances, Jim Sughrue, a Raleigh police spokesman said today.

Poole was charged the same day with 12 counts of forgery and one count of larceny, police reported.

"There was probable cause to believe that she had redirected some of the victim's funds to her own use," Sughrue said.

The amount of money police think Poole fraudulently obtained for the multiple forgeries was "considerably less" than than the $70,000 she was charged with taking today, Sughrue said.

Poole had been hired by the family to provide assistance for Mary Broughton.

"I wouldn't characterize her as a caregiver," Sughrue said. "My impression is that she was someone hired to provide assistance in whatever way." Family members said Poole worked as a caregiver for Mary Broughton when the offenses occurred.

The offenses occurred over the past two years, police reported.

Investigators think Poole cashed a series of checks at the Bank of America in 2007 that belonged to Broughton. Police say Poole obtained about $40,341.16 when she cashed the unauthorized checks.

Police think Poole cashed a number of checks that belonged to Broughton again this year at Bank of America, where she received $29,973 in cash, court records show.

Police have also accused Poole of using Broughton's American Express credit card on July 21, when someone walked into Costco and used the card to purchase a desk top computer, court records show.

Poole was released from the Wake County jail after posting bond for the July 30 forgery charges, a jail spokesman said. Police took her into custody this morning for the latest charges.

Poole remained behind bars this afternoon in lieu of a $75,000 bail, court records show.