Cole pleads not guilty on LCDA fraud charges

UPDATED 5:50 p.m. March 4, 2026: Clarifies dollar amount listed in charge

Former Liberty County Development Authority Chief Operating Officer Carmen Cole pleaded not guilty Wednesday to four charges stemming from allegations she spent more than $5,000 in the organization’s funds on personal expenses.

Cole is charged with two counts of financial transaction card fraud, one count of felony theft by deception, and one count of false statements and writings, conceal fact and fraudulent documents in matters of government. 

Cole’s attorney, David Laesser, said Superior Court Judge C. Paul Rose has not yet set a court date. Cole left the courthouse without commenting; the LCDA declined comment on the case.

Cole resigned from her position in January 2025 after an internal audit uncovered more than $22,000 in charges allegedly made for personal expenses on the development authority’s credit card. The indictment does not specify whether the charges stem from those purchases Cole said she had paid back.

At the time, Cole told The Current GA that the spending was “an inadvertent mistake” where she used the wrong credit card and blamed the error on being short staffed. “You know, when you’re working with three people and doing five and six projects at a time, we were just, and I was just trying to keep my head above water,” she said at the time. Within a week of resigning, Cole had repaid those charges.

The indictment, however, accuses her of a wider pattern of misuse and fraud. Cole allegedly used the LCDA’s card to pay for home improvements from Best Choice Roofing in March 2024 and jewelry in April 2024. 

Prosecutors also allege that Cole had obtained cash and reported more than $5,000 in between June 2022 and June 2024. They also have charged her with misreporting expenses in the development authority’s financial books. 

Cole had previously told The Current GA that she had miscoded expenses in QuickBooks, the accounting software used by many businesses, and had mistakenly used the LCDA’s card when she thought she was using her own.

Since CEO Brynn Grant came on board in April 2024, the LCDA has strengthened its internal financial controls by changing its accounting procedures, segregating financial duties, requiring two people to approve expenses, and flagging any expense over $5,000.