Executive Director of Dubois Co. non-profit charged with embezzling over $156K

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - A Petersburg woman is facing charges after allegedly embezzling over $156,000.

According to a release, 47-year-old Ellen Corn has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 15 counts of wire fraud.

Officials say Corn is accused of embezzling that money from ‘Mentors of Youth’, a Dubois County non-profit organization that facilitates a youth mentoring program.

According to court documents, Corn served as the Executive Director for Mentors of Youth from March 2017 through August 2022. During her employment, Corn had various financial responsibilities including entering all income and expenses into the organization’s accounting software.

Officials say over the five-year period, Corn allegedly stole more than $156,000 by using an organizational credit card for personal expenses without permission. She attempted to hide her unauthorized purchases by not entering them into the accounting software.

Corn is also accused of using the organization’s credit card to purchase goods and services from various businesses, including Amazon, Target, Walmart, and to make payments to colleges. She also allegedly used the credit card to make electronic payments from the official business PayPal account to her personal PayPal account. Once the money showed in her PayPal account, she transferred them to her personal checking account.

Mentors for Youth of Dubois County released a statement in response to Corn’s arrest saying:

“For 35 years, Mentors for Youth, formerly Big Brothers Big Sisters, has served a vital purpose in Dubois County. Our mission to facilitate relationships between local youth and caring adults has positively impacted innumerable individuals in this community. As we process the news of the arrest of our former director, we remain focused on this mission. Though deeply saddened by the actions of this individual, we are grateful for the members of both our local and federal law enforcement for their time and dedication to this investigation. We are also incredibly thankful for all the local partner organizations and community members that assisted us in becoming a stronger agency. Since uncovering this issue, we have worked hard to make substantive changes to ensure our policies and procedures will prevent this from occurring in the future. While our work in serving at-risk children was never compromised, we are genuinely sorry for any distress this may have caused. We will live up to our organization’s mission by ensuring transparency, accountability, and integrity. As we move forward, we are determined to support more youth in our community. Thank you for your steadfast support of our mission.”

According to officials, if convicted of wire fraud, Corn faces up to 20 years in jail.