Former Pitt County Animal Shelter director charged with fraud

A former Pitt County employee was arrested after an investigation determined he submitted fraudulent documents to a federal agency to benefit a volunteer fire department, local authorities said.

Christopher Chad Singleton, 50, turned himself in to the Pitt County Detention Center on Wednesday, where he was charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretense and four counts each of forgery of instrument and uttering forged instrument.

Singleton served as director of Pitt County Animal Services from Aug. 9, 2021, until his resignation on July 10. He was placed on investigative status with pay by Pitt County on July 3 as a result of a probe by the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office.

The agency was informed June 20 about case involving the Red Oak Fire Department, where Singleton was a ranking officer, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Daily Reflector on Wednesday.

Detectives discovered that some documents submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, were fraudulent. The FBI was notified and detectives continued their investigation, the warrants said.

The warrants said that Singleton forged two fake Red Oak Fire Department checks drawn to FEMA to falsely represent payment to East Carolina University’s Human Performance Lab in order to satisfy a FEMA grant and release funds for fire gear.

The warrants said Singleton also falsified billing invoices from July 29, 2022, and Dec. 5, 2023, meant to represent completed physicals done by the Human Performance Lab to satisfy the grant and release the fire gear funding.

Singleton was released under a $50,000 secured bond. His first appearance was set for Thursday.

County manager Janis Gallagher said after Singleton’s resignation from animal services that there were no concerns about finances at that organization.

Singleton oversaw Pitt County Animal Services since Aug. 9, 2021. He worked at the Pitt County Detention Center from 1997 until joining animal services. He also was a firefighter with Winterville Fire-Recue-EMS.