SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Lake Tahoe Presbyterian Community Church’s legal representative said today that South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace was incorrect in part of her statement.

In a letter she wrote to the community on Sunday, Wallace said no one at the church had any idea what she had done when admitting she had embezzled money from the church, her employer for almost seven years.

“I had not been found out; in effect, I turned myself in,” stated Wallace in her letter. “I had prepared a list of account numbers and passwords that I provided to the Church, while still in the hospital, so that my actions could be more easily discovered.”

On Wednesday, the church’s counsel, Philip Dunn, told South Tahoe Now that “the theft was not reported to the church by Ms. Wallace.”

“The amount taken is still being investigated, but it will be substantial for a local church,” added Dunn.

The rest of our questions could not be answered due to the continuing investigation by the church and the El Dorado County District Attorney’s office.

Wallace stated in her letter that she was overwhelmed by “guilt, shame, and grief” over the situation that she attempted suicide on Sept. 11, her birthday. She was placed in a mental health facility for 18 days and continues outpatient care.

The timeline of events has not yet been released, so all we can gather is that Wallace and her husband, Duane, were in Europe for a three-week vacation in July/August; she was absent from the August 12 City Council meeting due to the vacation; she missed a South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting due to “illness” on September 23; the South Lake Tahoe Police Department said the Lake Tahoe Presbyterian Church contacted them at the “end of the week of September 22” about an allegation regarding the Mayor; the Church terminates Wallace on Sept. 25; Wallace releases her letter on October 4 though church members and some others in the community had already heard about the missing funds from the church.

The church released a statement on Facebook Tuesday:

Tamara Wallace has formally acknowledged committing a significant offense against the congregation of Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church. When this was discovered by the church, her employment was terminated on September 26, 2025, and the matter was appropriately referred to law enforcement authorities. She did not attend our church nor was she a member. Our congregation has suffered extensive loss, and as we address this loss and its impact, we remain committed to prayer, compassion, transparency, and justice.