Dating service owner used customer information in rip-off

In her haste, Sally Ramey tossed her bank statements into a box. She'd get to them eventually, she told herself, when she had more time.

For months, Ramey had been planning every detail of her move from Benson to Garner, and the last thing she wanted to do was take time to go over the records.

Sure, it looked like she spent a bit more on Christmas than she planned. And, it appeared the new house was costing even more than she imagined. But never in her wildest dreams could she envision the secrets those buried pages would reveal.

By the time Ramey finally wised up, nearly $2,800 had been siphoned from her checking account and a woman she considered a good friend was being charged with the crime.

Building trust

A 40-year-old with 17 years experience in public relations, Ramey moved to North Carolina from Virginia in 1996. Two years ago, she decided to expand her horizons. "I just wanted to meet nice people," she said.

A singles group could be her answer, Ramey thought. She pulled out the Yellow Pages and eventually joined two dating services listed: Christ Centered Relationships, a local franchise of the national Christian singles club, Equally Yoked, and another group which has since closed.

Ramey's contact at Christ Centered Relationships was its director, Vickie Godwin, a 50-year-old woman who Ramey would come to consider one of her closest friends.

Godwin told her the group was a "Christian singles/dating service with a lot of members," Ramey said. Her estimates ranged anywhere from 30-150 members.

When she joined, Ramey gave the director her debit card number and expiration date so the monthly payments of $35 could be taken directly from her checking account. When her year was up and Ramey decided not to renew her membership, the debits stopped. She never gave them another thought, she says.

During her year with Christ Centered Relationships, Ramey tried to attend one gathering a month. Typically, Godwin scheduled an outing a week. Members came from as far away as Wilmington and Boone, says Ramey.

Shortly after Ramey joined Christ Centered Relationships, Godwin moved her office from Six Forks Road in Raleigh to a second bedroom in her Caveness Farms apartment in Wake Forest. She told Ramey the move was made for financial reasons.

Ramey and Godwin continued their friendship even after Ramey left the singles group. The two liked to go out to eat or see a movie. Mostly, Ramey paid, she said.

Often, Godwin complained she had little money and her fibromyalgia, a chronic, often disabling condition characterized by widespread body pain and uncontrollable fatigue, was flaring up.

Frequently, Godwin shared her troubles with Ramey. The stories, which now seem far-fetched, never alarmed Ramey.

"I thought I had learned this lesson. I thought I was smart enough not to fall for this," Ramey said.

Sometime last year, a man named Larry, who Ramey knew from Christ Centered Relationships, moved in with Godwin, Ramey said. But Larry became abusive and threatening, Godwin told Ramey, and even waved a gun in her face. She was afraid of him but refused to report him to the police, though Ramey says she repeatedly pleaded for her to.

Breaking point

When she still hadn't found a buyer for her house in Benson, Ramey offered to let Godwin move in and rent the home until she could afford to buy it. Money wouldn't be a problem for long, Godwin told Ramey. She was expecting nearly $150,000 in settlement money following an accident at Caveness Farms.

"If I did not think she would have that money coming, I would not have let her rent my house," Ramey said. "I was trying to help her. I saw her as someone who had a hard life."

Randy Warren with Drucker & Falk, the managing company for Caveness Farms, was surprised by Godwin's alleged lawsuit. "To my knowledge, Drucker & Falk has not been served with any suit by this Š individual," he said earlier this week.

Ramey and Godwin were dining out in early January when all of a sudden, Ramey said, Godwin made a surprising confession. "She said, 'I've done a bad thing. I've charged $420 to your account.' I didn't know what to think. I just sat there and stared."

Ramey remembered Godwin had been saying she needed $500 for weeks. "She must have been desperate," Ramey recalls thinking.

"I said, 'You're going to pay me back.' She said 'OK.'

"'With interest,' I said. 'And don't you ever do it again.'" Godwin swore she wouldn't.

"She had already done it to me again," said a disbelieving Ramey.

Still, Ramey trusted her friend. She didn't check her bank statements, didn't call the bank, didn't fret. Not until mid-February when Godwin moved into Ramey's house and Ramey learned Larry was back did things change. Ramey was afraid for her friend and told her she didn't want Larry anywhere near her house.

Suddenly, Godwin defended Larry, and the tales she had told Ramey previously no longer matched with what she was now telling. The two argued and Ramey says Godwin hung up on her. "I remember thinking this (story) came too easily. Then, my woman's intuition went off."

If she lied about Larry, Ramey wondered, what else had she lied about? If Godwin had taken money once without permission, was it possible she had taken more? Ramey started to panic.

The next morning, Ramey called her bank. Christ Centered Relationships, they said, had made six withdrawals between Oct. 5, 2001, and Jan. 18 of this year. Twice, they debited the account on the same day.

"I was livid," said Ramey. "I was stunned. I was shocked. I felt betrayed. I felt hurt. I felt stupid. It's like, why didn't I see this coming?"

The transactions, Wake Forest Police Det. Bonnie Heart learned, were manually entered from a credit card machine belonging to Godwin's Christ Centered Relationships.

Police recommended Ramey cut off contact with Godwin. But Godwin kept calling and leaving messages of regret. Meanwhile, Heart let Godwin know police planned to file charges against her.

In one message left on Ramey's cell phone in late February, Godwin alternately begged Ramey to drop the charges and claimed her health was failing.

"Can we work out a payment schedule? I never intended not to pay you back," a breathy and distressed Godwin said to the machine until it cut her off. "I'm having severe chest pains. Please let me know." The next day Ramey got an unlisted phone number.

By early March, Godwin agreed to turn herself in. But when she didn't show up, Heart was forced to arrest her at Ramey's home in Benson March 6. "She told me there must be a mistake. She said she'd been in the hospital. She told me she would pay (Ramey) back," Heart said.

Godwin was charged with six counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, taken to Wake County Jail and placed under a $12,000 secured bond. The following day she posted bond and was released.

Ramey believes there are other victims. But she can't remember the full names of any Christ Centered Relationship members.

After Godwin's arrest, Ramey went back into her old house in Benson to check on her former friend's dog. Ramey says she saw the credit card machine, stacks and stacks of papers and a phone bill and pile of pre-approved credit card applications in Larry's name.

None of what Ramey saw can be used as evidence, Heart said. A magistrate would never approve a search warrant without more evidence that Godwin had defrauded others.

Ramey heard another one of Godwin's former clients reported an "inappropriate debit" to Equally Yoked founder Tom Christopher.

Christopher declined to speak with detectives and did not return calls to The Wake Weekly requesting comment. Only after Ramey complained to Christopher did he remove Christ Centered Relationships from the Equally Yoked website, she said.

What to believe

Godwin moved from Benson earlier this month, reportedly to a home in Youngsville. Calls to a Vickie Godwin in Youngsville were not returned.

The bank has credited much of what Godwin allegedly took from Ramey. "I'm very thankful it was only $2,770. It could have been worse."

Once Godwin was arrested and had moved out of Ramey's house, Ramey was able to begin to heal, though she isn't sure she'll ever be so willing to trust. Godwin, she says, "is a stranger to me. When I look back, I do not know what to believe.

"I'm not angry anymore. In a spiritual sense, I've forgiven her. But I think she deserves punishment. Maybe this will be a way for her to get the help she needs."

Editor's note -- any former members of Christ Centered Relationships who feel they too may have been defrauded are asked to contact Det. Bonnie Heart at 554-6150.