In the News ... "Lamesa farmer caught underreporting income tax, stealing from church"

• Money embezzled from Grace Lutheran Church, where he served as treasurer

By Gabriel Monte, Reporter
• Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

LAJ File Photo

LAMESA, TEXAS - A Lamesa farmer signed documents admitting to underreporting the income he reported in his 2016 tax return by omitting the money he embezzled from a church.

Roy Ben Menix signed plea paperwork admitting to a count of subscribing to a false tax return, which carries a punishment of up to three years in federal prison. Court records show he is waiving an indictment and is pleading to a felony information.

The documents state Menix, who is listed as a director on the Plains Cotton Growers Association website, falsely listed his income for 2016 as $12,696, when he actually earned a gross income of $126,542.

Part of the $113,846 of unreported gross income came from his farm in Lamesa and the other part was from money he embezzled from Grace Lutheran Church, where he served as treasurer since 1999, the documents state.

The charge against Menix resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service after church officials found discrepancies in the church's bank account.

An officer with the church's bank discovered in June 2020 irregular transactions in the bank's account and reported it to the church's president, who found Menix used the church's money to make a large number of unauthorized payments.

The church's president hired a forensic accounting firm that determined Menix stole about $100,000 from the church between 2015-2020.

An IRS investigator then reviewed the church's bank and Paypal records and found Menix embezzled more than $174,600 from the church.

The investigator also found that Menix did not include the embezzled money in his income tax returns from 2016-2020. Menix also didn't report income from his farming operation in 2016, the documents state...

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