Mom Accused of Stealing $100,000 from Acworth Softball Team

It happened little by little.

In the three years she served on the board of her daughter’s Acworth softball league, the organization accused Brooke Foster of stealing over $100,000.

Foster, 35, of Dallas, served as treasurer of the Kennworth Park Recreation Association from August 2019 to July 2022.

According to the organization’s president, Elizabeth Theobald, in that time, Foster used her position to siphon money from the group’s bank account for her own personal use.

“She was basically using the check card to live her life,” Theobald said.

Theobald and Foster’s daughters played on the team — whose mascot is the bandits — for years together.

“I considered her a friend. Our daughters were best friends,” Theobald said. “That’s where the checks and balances slipped through the cracks.”

Foster was arrested on felony charges of theft Monday morning, and released that afternoon on a $50,000 bond. She did not respond to the MDJ’s request for comment.

Theobald said the organization hoped she would receive additional charges, but because Foster was never asked to sign a contract stating she would not use the funds for personal gain, that wasn’t an option.

“You would think that would be a given,” Theobald said.

The team first suspected theft when a $20,000 check to purchase batting cages bounced in July 2022.

“When it bounced, I realized we should have at least enough money in our account to build the cages,” Theobald said. “That’s when we discovered we had a negative balance.”

Theobald said the board called an emergency meeting and confronted Foster, who presented fraudulent financial documents.

“She came with some falsified bank statements to the meeting,” Theobald said. “At first she blamed her husband, but then she took ownership for it. She said that she did it, and she was sorry.”

The league removed Foster from the position and filed a police report. For the last year-and-a-half, they’ve been in limbo, waiting for justice.

Theobald said while she is happy to see the first legal repercussion for Foster, the team has suffered as a result of her alleged theft. The batting cages are still out of their budget, and the fall 2022 season nearly didn’t happen.

“We were able to pull it together to make sure the girls had a season,” Theobald said. “Since then, we’ve been fiscally responsible. So, we’ve been able to provide what is needed for the park, but we still haven’t been able to get the batting cages.”

Moving forward, the league has changed many of their operations to avoid future embezzlement.

The board, which Theobald said used to operate like a family, is now much more procedural. Before, only purchases over $100 needed to be approved by the board, but now every single purchase is put to a vote.

Theobald said part of the reason Foster’s alleged theft was able to go undetected for so long was because she was spending in such small increments.

“There was no real large (withdrawal) amount, that’s why it was hard to catch. She would go to Walmart, or she would pay her phone bill, those types of things,” Theobald said.

Theobald said everyone on the board is now required to sign a document that states they won’t use the organization’s money for personal reasons, and she recommends anyone with a similar nonprofit do the same.

“This happens all the time, and a lot of times people aren’t even prosecuted for it,” Theobald said. “People need to take precaution. Even when you think you know someone, you really don’t.”