Carolyn Pilgrim

A Cape Coral woman is facing a pair of felonies after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into a possible embezzlement where she previously worked.

FDLE agents arrested Carolyn Eulena Pilgrim, 41, on Tuesday, charging her with one count of scheme to defraud (over $50,000) and one count of grand theft (over $100,000), the state agency said in a release issued today.

The release states 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 release states. “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. Bond was set at $100,000 on each count. She was released from the facility early Tuesday afternoon, according to jail records.

The case will be prosecuted by Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.