Charges filed in NAACP embezzlement case

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ATLANTA, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A former NAACP executive was charged in Fulton County, Ga., with embezzling $275,000 from the U.S. civil rights organization, NAACP officials say.

The Rev. Amos Brown, administrator for the NAACP's Atlanta chapter, said former NAACP official Judith W. Hanson and Hanson's former assistant, Saundra Douglass, are accused of embezzling funds during their time with the Baltimore-based organization, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Tuesday.

Authorities allege Hanson, who served as the executive director of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter, and Douglass used NAACP funds for personal expenses during a six-year period.

The alleged embezzlement was uncovered by an internal investigation of the chapter's finances, police said.

Brown said the alleged actions of Hanson and Douglass, who is not in police custody, should not reflect negatively on the NAACP, the Journal-Constitution reported.

"Any malfeasance at whatever level is not tolerated by the NAACP," said Brown, adding an arrest warrant was issued for Douglass. "But we do feel that this great organization should not be punished in the eyes of the public because of the actions of these two individuals."