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The Chocowinity Volunteer Fire Department has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Chocowinity and former Town Clerk Joy McRoy, according to court documents obtained through NC Courts. 

The lawsuit, served to the Town of Chocowinity and McRoy in April, alleges the town and McRoy, misappropriated funds meant to be used by the volunteer fire department. 

The volunteer fire department receives funding through government entities, fundraisers and/or donations from the community and those funds are used to purchase equipment and tools that help the department respond to emergencies, according to the lawsuit. 

Sometime between 2004 and 2005, the volunteer fire department entered into an agreement with the town for assistance maintaining its finances, the lawsuit states. 

The person in charge of maintaining the department’s finances was McRoy which means she was given full access to the department’s financial accounts. The department believes McRoy “intentionally misled” the department when providing inaccurate financial statements. 

“Upon information and belief, the financial statements prepared by the Town of Chocowinity, and/or Joy McRoy, were prepared with the intent to mislead Chocowinity Fire,” the lawsuit reads. It also alleges that McRoy used the fire department’s money for personal use. 

The lawsuit alleges McRoy created fake financial documents to “deceive” the department. 

“McRoy’s actions were willful and malicious,” the lawsuit reads. 

Chocowinity Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Chocowinity stated the town had “no knowledge” of McRoy’s embezzlement. According to North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations, the embezzlement began in 2015 and lasted seven years. The bureau alleges McRoy embezzled more than $500,000 during that time. 

Of that amount, Chocowinity Volunteer Department alleges McRoy misappropriated $25,000 of its money. 

The volunteer fire department blames the town for a lack of proper oversight of its financial accounts. “Defendants, as a result of the contractual relationship with the Plaintiff, were supposed to properly oversee and manage the accounts.” 

The Town of Chocowinity responded to the volunteer fire department’s lawsuit on June 10. 

Naturally, the town denied many of the department’s claims. The first thing it did was distance itself from McRoy’s alleged embezzlement. The town stated that the loss of funds was because of McRoy’s actions, and nothing to do with the town. 

“This Defendant hereby pleads that Plaintiff’s alleged injuries were not caused by the actions or omissions of This Defendant but rather were caused by the actions or omissions of Defendant Joy McRoy, which were outside of the course and scope of her employment, and that her actions constituted an intervening and superseding cause of the Plaintiff’s damages,” the Town of Chocowinity’s response states. 

The town agreed that it entered into a written agreement with the volunteer fire department for a three-year term starting in 2005. The town added that it was unaware of any contracts written after 2008. 

As for how much money was allegedly taken from the department, the town cannot say whether the amount is accurate or not, because it does not have “sufficient knowledge.” 

Insufficient knowledge was a repeated response by the Town of Chocowinity to many of the department’s claims. For example, The Town of Chocowinity said it did not have enough evidence to say whether McRoy used money from the department’s accounts to fund accounts owned by other entities, including the town’s, but the town admitted to McRoy using the money for personal use. 

The Town of Chocowinity denied that it did not properly oversee McRoy’s actions, according to the town’s response. 

McRoy’s employment with the Town of Chocowinity was terminated in July of 2022. A month later, the District Attorney for Beaufort County requested the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) to investigate allegations of embezzlement. On Dec. 11, McRoy was indicted by a Beaufort County grand jury on eight total counts of embezzlement by a public officer or employee, according to SBI. As town clerk, McRoy allegedly 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. 

A disposition hearing related to the embezzlement charges has been set for 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 10 at the Beaufort County Courthouse. 

At this time, McRoy is required to compile documentation and prepare responses to the lawsuit by Oct. 16.