The Brief
- A Pinellas County contractor is in jail after being accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Clearwater church.
- Unity Church of Clearwater says it paid more than $830,000 upfront for a new building on Nursery Road, but the job was never completed.
- Detectives say bank records reveal the contractor spent church funds on a variety of personal expenses.
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Clearwater police arrested contractor William Botelho, the owner of Custom Building Solutions, on Wednesday and charged him with grand theft over $100,000.
Clearwater church fraud investigation
What we know:
Church leaders say they hired Botelho for the $4.1 million project on Nursery Road. They paid about $832,000 upfront for materials and subcontractors to start building the new church.
Detectives with the Clearwater Police Department say bank records from Aug. 2023 to March 2026, show that Botelho spent only $95,000 toward construction, leaving approximately $736,000 unaccounted for.…