Woman accused of embezzlement in West Virginia

A Fayette County woman who took part in fundraising efforts for a middle school football program was arrested Friday on misdemeanor embezzlement and fraudulent schemes charges, police said.

Paula Kay Lilly, 33, of Robson, turned herself in to authorities and was charged with two counts of embezzlement and two counts of fraudulent schemes, Fayette Sheriff Steve Kessler said. Lilly was arraigned and released on $10,000 bond.
Kessler said the sheriff’s office was notified in October of possible fraud in connection with fundraising activities conducted by the Collins Middle School football program in Oak Hill.
Kessler said a parent took part in two fundraisers, one in August involving the sale of discount meal cards and the other in September selling orders for donuts.
The parent, instead of turning in cash from the first fundraiser, submitted three checks that were later determined to have been drawn against a closed checking account, Kessler said, and then refused to make the checks good.
Kessler said the same parent then took several orders for donuts, and when the money collected was due to be turned in, the parent attempted to submit a check drawn against the same closed account. When the school refused to accept the check, the parent turned in only a portion of the cash collected during the fundraising activity.
After several attempts to collect the money from the parent, Kessler said, school personnel contacted the sheriff’s office to conduct an investigation.
“The personnel from Collins Middle School and the parents and other personnel associated with the football program were in no way responsible for these thefts and cooperated fully during this investigation,” Kessler said. “These crimes involved only a single individual who was not affiliated with the school or the football program in any way other than selling items and failing to turn in the money collected to the school.”