CMSD employee arrested for alleged embezzlement

An employee of Columbus Municipal School District is accused of embezzling from a local department store when she was an employee there.  

Officers with the Columbus Police Department arrested Rosemarie Prater, 36, of 2923 Military Road, on Tuesday.  

Prater is charged with embezzling about $45,000 from Belk department store in Columbus when she worked there in 2015, said CPD Capt. Brent Swan.  

Prater is a receptionist with CMSD and a member of the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee.  

CMSD Superintendent Philip Hickman did not return calls to The Dispatch regarding Prater's employment status since her arrest.  

CMSD Board of Trustees President Angela Verdell told The Dispatch she could not speak about personnel matters.  

"I don't know who that is," Verdell added in reference to Prater.  

Prater stopped working for Belk in 2015, Swan said. She has worked as a receptionist at CMSD for about a year, according to her application for the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee.  

Prater was released from the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center after posting $50,000 bond Tuesday.