CAPE CORAL, Fla. – FDLE agents arrested Carolyn Eulena Pilgrim, 41, of Cape Coral, yesterday on one count of scheme to defraud (over $50,000) and one count of grand theft (over $100,000), both first-degree felonies.
 
The investigation began in August 2022, when a company contacted FDLE regarding suspected embezzlement by Pilgrim, a former employee who had been in charge of the company’s accounting department.
 
Agents discovered that Pilgrim had deposited more than $3,000,000 in checks made payable to the company into a separate account under her control, using her position to ensure other employees were unaware that the payments were being used for her benefit. The investigation also found that she abused her position to authorize payroll in her name from the company’s other locations, supplementing her $70,000 salary with more than $575,000 in fraudulently obtained payroll payments. Both schemes lasted from 2017 through 2022. The investigation is ongoing.

Pilgrim was booked into the Lee County Jail on a no-bond status pending first appearance. The case will be prosecuted by Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
 
For Further Information Contact:
FDLE Office of Public Information
(850) 410-7001