Former president of youth sports organization arrested for theft, fraud

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — A now-former president of a youth sports organization is under fire.

The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bennie Alvin Clements Jr. for theft and fraud Thursday pertaining to the Callahan Sports Association’s funds, according to a report.

CSA declined to interview Friday afternoon, saying the investigation is ongoing.

The board secretary shared a statement with Action News Jax, explaining that board members did an internal audit of the association’s financial records after noticing several discrepancies in funds.

The association says it went to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office after realizing all funds could not be accounted for.

In a report by the sheriff’s office, a complaint by the CSA says it’s approximately $40,000 dollars from what it should be.

The report says the CSA told police the majority of its transactions are through Square, a banking service, only accessed by Clements.

In the report, the CSA says days later, Clements gave members access to a newly-created Square account with a different email address. According to the report, the CSA told police it couldn’t access the old account.

According to the report, an officer says he spoke to Clements, who claimed he changed the Square account because the email was too long, and said he could not get back into the account because he no longer had access to the email associated with it.

According to the report, Clements told police he never made transfers out of that Square account.

The report says police found several Square accounts created by Clements, one of which showed 21 instant deposits to an ATM card totaling over $22,000 dollars. Police say that card was issued to Clements.

The CSA says it’s working on fundraisers and other events to keep the park going. The association says there’s a lot of money to be raised.

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