Former Goodman Center VP of business and finance accused of embezzling funds to gamble | News

Former Goodman Center VP of business and finance accused of embezzling funds to gamble | News

Former Goodman Center vice president has been charged with nine felonies related to embezzling center funds for personal use.

​COPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.



MADISON, Wis. — A former vice president at the Goodman Community Center embezzled over $600,000 over the course of three years and used that money for gambling and other personal expenses, a criminal complaint alleges.

Dewayne Powell, 42, is charged with two felony counts of uttering a forgery and nine felony counts of theft of movable property. Prosecutors allege Powell committed the crimes between April 2021 and June 2024.

According to a complaint filed Wednesday in Dane County, Powell had worked as the Goodman Center’s vice president of business and finance for two years before he was fired in late June 2024. He had been with GCC since April 2010, previously working as the assistant finance director, then director of finance and then director of accounting.

Dewayne Powell; CREDIT: Goodman Community Center

Goodman Center president and executive director Letesha Nelson filed a report with Madison police in June 2024 after receiving an alert from Lake Ridge Bank that checks were flagged for a name mismatch.

The complaint alleges that Powell was listed as a payee on a $400 check, but the signature did not match his. The check was made out to Monona State Bank, which ceased to exist in February 2023.

Nelson allegedly found another check to Monona State Bank, cut the same day, that wasn’t flagged by Lake Ridge Bank. The $500 check was allegedly printed to be payable to Powell but the signature did not match his.

An audit allegedly revealed that Powell had approved both checks himself.

According to the complaint, Nelson reported finding discrepancies with the GCC credit cards assigned to Powell. His transactions allegedly did not match expenses related to GCC’s operations.

Nelson had previously noticed transactions that she thought may have been miscoded, so she didn’t immediately look into them. However, after the issues with the flagged checks she decided to further investigate the transactions on Powell’s credit card.

According to the complaint, Nelson did not have access to all of Powell’s purchases through the card’s Capital One credit card portal, but could see recent transactions via a third-party vendor.

The complaint alleges that Powell had blocked Nelson’s access to the portal for several years, saying the process for getting her an account would be lengthy and that GCC would be moving away from Capital One soon anyway.

Using the third-party vendor, Nelson found two GCC credit cards registered to Powell. One card allegedly showed transactions with foreign entities as well as to an agency that manages the apartments where Powell lives.

The second, newer card did not show any transactions to foreign groups, but allegedly did show another transaction to the apartment agency as well as other expenses that weren’t GCC-related.

According to the complaint, Nelson shared her findings with GCC staff on June 13, 2024. Two days later, a transaction allegedly appeared on the newer card labeled “Venmo” with the name of Powell’s girlfriend.

Detectives followed up with GCC staff in July 2024, at which point Nelson had been able to gain access to the Capital One credit card records. She allegedly found that Powell used the GCC credit card “routinely” at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison and Wisconsin Dells, and sent Venmo payments to his brothers and girlfriend.

Financial records detailed in the complaint show how and where Powell allegedly used the two GCC credit cards he was assigned. The records show he made near-weekly trips to casinos and used the cards to pay for rent, trips and other bills over the course of over three years.

That allegedly includes monthly payments to Spectrum, a $3,182 payment to the Bucks and an $857.99 payment to the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Speaking to detectives in August 2024, Powell allegedly admitted to signing the two checks that caught Nelson’s attention. He said he had done so multiple times in order to keep the ATM at the Goodman Community Center filled. He allegedly said keeping the ATM filled was part of his job.

When asked about the misuse of the GCC credit cards, Powell allegedly said that he had noticed some suspicious transactions but maintained that all transactions associated with him were GCC-related.

According to the complaint, Nelson and GCC Vice President of People and Culture Hope Ballentine said Powell’s account of how he filled the ATM was inaccurate. They claimed that, in the past, Powell would request a money order for the machine and those orders would usually exceed $3,000.

An audit of the ATM allegedly revealed that Powell had requested $20,400 for the ATM since August 2023, however the machine had only dispensed $14,660. Ballentine alleged that Powell was responsible for the discrepancy.

Detectives spoke with Powell’s girlfriend, who allegedly admitted to going out gambling with him and the he would give her money if he won. She reportedly reacted with surprise when shown that Powell was using the GCC cards to pay for things.

In a statement Wednesday, Nelson and the Goodman Community Center Board of Directors said the center has made internal policy and process changes since Powell’s alleged actions were revealed. A forensic accounting firm was also hired to investigate the center. That investigation reportedly found that no grant money or restricted donor funds were used to cover Powell’s alleged purchases.

This has been a violation of our trust and a breach of the goodness of those who support Goodman. Rest assured, we will move forward together in strength,” the group said. “We won’t let the wrongdoings of one individual define our legacy, good work, programs and people that make our center essential for so many in Madison.” 

Online court records show that Powell has a criminal record dating back to 2000. He was charged in 2019 with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, a charge that carried a domestic abuse enhancer. He was found guilty and made to pay $543.

In 2009, he pleaded no contest to operating after revocation and was forced to pay a fine. In 2005, he pleaded no contest to resisting or obstructing an officer.

Records show Powell was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest to a felony charge of substantial battery as party to a crime in 2000. He was fined in 2006 for failing to pay restitution in the case, and that money was eventually taken out of his paycheck when he began working at Goodman.

Powell is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Feb. 27.

​COPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.


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