PENDER COUNTY — Recently released search warrants detail the financial activity of the Topsail High Booster Club’s treasurer leading to charges in February of embezzlement, larceny, obtaining property by false pretense and money laundering.
The warrants, filed by Sergeant Matthew Sherman, were granted on March 18 for Erin Schmidt’s bank records at Capital One and Credit One Bank. The warrants note the records helped locate the $190,749.51 unaccounted for by the Topsail Booster Club.
Schmidt was arrested after the Topsail High School administration and booster club board of directors notified the sheriff’s office of possible criminal activity in Schmidt’s handling of the club’s account.
Her arrest warrant states Schmidt paid for multiple restaurant meals, Home Goods items, Barnes and Nobles books, entertainment tickets, and multiple other items from Topsail High School Athletic Booster Club accounts.
The search warrants state Booster Club President, Susan Davis, and board member, Kristi Robison, reported that South State Bank had contacted them regarding “red flag” purchases and suspicious activity associated with the account.
Per the warrants, Schmidt admitted to utilizing booster club funds for personal expenses when confronted by booster officials, though she added she intended to repay the money.
From there, Sherman began his investigation with a review of the club’s bank records with South State Bank between August 2021 and January 2026.
The warrant states the review identified “significant amounts of non-Booster related activity, suspicious transactions, and transactions requiring receipt verification,” in excess of $110,000. In addition, the investigation identified a “substantial discrepancy” between reported cash intake from sporting event concessions and the amount deposited into the booster club bank account.
Sherman’s accounting of transactions identified $125,278.56 in either illegitimate spending, unaccounted funds, or discrepancies, breaking down as follows:
- $51,571.86 in non-booster related activities
- $43,555.26 in suspicious activity
- $14,964.02 in need receipts to verify
- $15,187.42 in unaccounted transactions from the booster club’s Cash App
The accounting does not include cash received from concessions at sporting events, which could not be exactly defined with the review of South Bank’s records.
The warrants note the sheriff’s office has searched Schmidt’s laptops; detectives were able to see her and her husband’s Bank of America account had only $17.12 on Dec. 23, 2024 but then $$137,489.10 on Feb. 22, 2025. A warrant for Schmidt’s Bank of America records was granted on March 16, though the bank has yet to turn over the documents.
Sherman writes in the warrants that Schmidt is a homemaker and does not have a job; her husband is retired and is presumably on a fixed income. Thus, the detective surmises it would be unusual for the couple to have large fluctuations in bank activity.
The information gleaned from the South Bank investigation, plus Schmidt’s admission of using the club fund for personal items, was deemed sufficient probable cause to begin searching her personal accounts at Capital One and Credit One Bank.
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