WENDELL - Police have arrested one of the leaders of the East Wake Relay for Life and charged him with taking more than $6,000 raised by the organization.

David Brandon Mangum, 29, of 419 Fowlkes St., Wendell, was charged with three counts of embezzlement and one count of obtaining property by false pretenses.

The crimes came to light when American Cancer Society representatives alerted Wendell police this summer that they found problems with deposits from the East Wake Relay for Life.

On July 10, police executed a search warrant at Mangum's home, which he shares with Dianna Scoggins, who co-chaired the event with Mangum.

Scoggins has not been charged in the case, but Wendell police Investigator Sam Foster said his investigation is continuing.

Mangum is accused of collecting money from volunteer Relay for Life teams at monthly meetings and failing to deposit the cash or, in one case, depositing the cash long after he had collected it.

Foster said he reviewed the records from 10 Relay for Life teams and, in one month, Mangum allegedly took $3,521. In another month, Foster said Mangum took $1,095.79.

The third embezzlement charge stems from a $1,018 deposit Mangum made long after the money had been collected.

The false pretense charge involves $425 Mangum is accused of taking in a separate scheme.

Foster said it's unclear what Mangum did with the money that wasn't recovered.

"The money could be anywhere. I don't know what he did with the money. I wasn't able to do a formal interview. He chose not to talk to me," Foster said.

The Relay for Life is eastern Wake County's largest annual fundraiser. The organization raised $130,000 last year and has raised more than $1 million for cancer research in its 12-year history.