Former Employee Charged With Embezzling $2 Million From Cleveland Catholic Charities

A former Cleveland Catholic Charities employee who worked at various times as the non-profit's comptroller and business manager was charged today with embezzling $2 million from the organization.

58-year-old Michelle Medrick of North Royalton allegedly used her position to steal millions between 2008 and March of this year.

In a statement last month when the allegations (but not the employee's name) came to light, CEO Patrick Gareau said in a statement, "We are shocked and disappointed that this occurred. Stewardship is one of the core values of our organization and we take the trust granted to us by our supporters, clients and community very seriously. We are working closely with our audit committee and board of directors and have taken steps to strengthen and improve our internal controls and oversight of systems within the organization."

An independent forensic audit was conducted by an outside firm and the FBI investigated. Medrick allegedly altered checks and used donor checks for personal income, among other nefarious acts of embezzlement. 

Catholic Charities has insurance for this sort of thing and has already recouped the missing sum

Community rallies to support YEPAW after alleged embezzlement

The youth arts organization YEPAW has long shared the message that God can help people overcome anything.

Now it’s showing that it takes that message to heart.

In the wake of accusations that a former administrator stole more than $97,000 from the program, YEPAW leaders and supporters took the microphone at a community rally Sunday to promise the organization would prevail.

And the young performers underscored that message with their voices.

“Oh, how wonderful it is, Jesus promised he’ll take care of me,” sang about 60 teenage choir members in the opening number. Their joyful voices reverberated in the circular sanctuary of West Akron’s Mount Calvary Baptist Church. Many in the audience rose to their feet, swaying, clapping and singing along.

YEPAW — Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop — is both a performing arts and mentoring program. It uses the arts to engage middle and high school youth while it helps them build life skills and encourages them to pursue excellence, said its founder and artistic director, the Rev. Leslie Parker Barnes.

Last month its former executive director, Alexandra (Wright) Thomas, was charged with identity fraud and theft for allegedly opening a credit card account in Barnes’ name to siphon money from the organization.

Community members filled the sanctuary for Sunday’s rally to encourage the young people with their presence and donations. They cheered the performance, tossed money into offering baskets and purchased T-shirts bearing the hashtag message, #YEPAWSTRONG.

The event was a fundraiser, but it had a greater purpose, Barnes said before the rally.

“More than anything, [the purpose is] to charge these young people and tell them they are amazing,” she said. “Dreams really do come true.”

The alleged theft was never mentioned directly during the event, but the message was clear: YEPAW is determined to overcome the financial setback.

“The leadership is still strong. No question about it, God’s hand is still strong,” Kyle Earley, a minister at the church, told the spirited crowd. “Nothing can stop them, because God has already blessed them.”

The rally had a feeling of celebration, and the emphasis was on the impact YEPAW makes in its young participants’ lives. “I don’t know where I’d be,” one young member said in a short video shown during the rally.

The biggest ovation of the night went to Barnes, who is recovering from a fractured ankle and spoke from a wheelchair.

She promised YEPAW would continue to build on its mission of instilling purpose in young people and turning them into leaders.

“I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that YEPAW is the Lord’s,” she said, her voice rising above the applause. “He started it, and he’s gonna finish it.”

A Believing the Dream Campaign has been started on the crowd-funding website Go Fund Me to collect donations in support of YEPAW. Contributions can be made at www.gofundme.com/YEPAW.

Former church treasurer spent embezzled money on escorts, porn & drugs, judge says

 A former church treasurer spent hundreds of thousands of dollars he embezzled on a life of excess, including drugs, pornography and escorts, according to a Butler County judge.

Garry D. Meyer, 61, previously pleaded guilty to aggravated theft. He was sentenced Monday to five years in prison, the Journal-News reported.

Initially, a police report indicated, about $400,000 was stolen from Tri-County Baptist Church. But that amount eventually rose to more than $800,000, the Journal-News reported, which meant Meyer was indicted in December on a second-degree felony.


Garry Meyer
Meyer stole the money over the course of about 14 years, according to the indictment.

Tri-County Baptist's senior pastor, Brian McManus, said Meyer called him and confessed in October. At Monday's sentencing, McManus said Meyer's confession came only after his wife found out what he'd been doing.

Prosecutors said Meyer spent the money on his frequent trips to Florida, which, according to Judge Michael Oster, included cars, credit cards, porn, drugs and "high-end escorts," the Journal-News reported.

Meyer's wife began sobbing when her husband spoke to Oster before sentencing.

He told the court there was no excuse for what he'd done, then told his wife: "I am sorry for betraying your trust … you have always been the best part of my life."

McManus said Meyer's embezzlement hurt not only the congregation, but also more than 100 missionaries. The former treasurer vowed to work on fixing the relationships he'd destroyed, the Journal-News reported.

Suspect in $45K church embezzlement appears in court

A woman accused to stealing $45,000 from a Catholic church entered not guilty pleas in court Tuesday.

Stacy Bowling, 40, of Dayton, was indicted last month in Montgomery County for grand theft for stealing money from her employer, St. Albert the Great Catholic Church in Kettering.

Bowling was arraigned in court on Tuesday and was released on her own recognizance.

Between July 2014 and October 2015, Bowling allegedly stole approximately $45,000 from the church.

Bowling was employed by the church as the cafeteria manager and was in charge of that business account. She reportedly wrote checks and made debit card purchases from the church’s cafeteria account for her personal use.

If convicted, Bowling could face up to 18 months in prison.

Perrysburg Education board given audit in embezzling case

The Perrysburg Board of Education on Tuesday was presented with the special Ohio Auditor of the State report regarding a former employee in the schools’ treasurer’s office discovered embezzling and later sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

A spokesman with the Ohio Auditor of the State said an audit report meeting was scheduled for Tuesday.

However, that spokesman didn’t know when the audit was to be released.  

Board President Jarman Davis said before Tuesday’s meeting that he couldn’t release any details about the report because it was still in the state’s control. 

The Blade has requested a copy of the audit.

The district went into executive session at 4:30 p.m. to consider the dismissal or discipline of a public employee or official, to consider the appointment of an employee, or confer with the board’s attorney concerning matters involving the public body.

The board came out of the meeting at 7:30 p.m. and took no action.

Eric Whitson had worked in the treasurer’s office for 10 years and was fired shortly after his indictment for theft in office last year in 2014.

Two weeks ago, Whitson, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and to pay restitution of $800,000 between Perrysburg schools and the Bowling Green Bobcat Athletic Boosters.

For months, the board of education and school administration wouldn’t discuss the matter while waiting for the state auditor’s report.

The embezzlement was discovered in 2014 when a new volunteer for the boosters group questioned checks written to them from Perrysburg schools.

Indictment: St. Albert church worker embezzled $45K in Ohio

Stacy Bowling, 40, of Dayton, was indicted Wednesday in Montgomery County for grand theft for stealing money from her employer, a church.

Between July 2014 and October 2015, Bowling allegedly stole approximately $45,000 from St. Albert the Great Catholic Church in Kettering.

Bowling was employed by the church as the cafeteria manager and was in charge of that business account. She reportedly wrote checks and made debit card purchases from the church’s cafeteria account for her personal use.

If convicted, Bowling could face up to 18 months in prison.

“This defendant abused the trust the church gave her to support her lifestyle,” said Prosecutor Mat Heck in a release. “Stealing from a non‐profit hurts the victim not only financially, but it can create distrust in the members of the parish that their donations are being protected.”

Bowling is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 2.

UPDATE @ 12:43 p.m. (Nov. 10, 2015)

Chris Worland, the new pastor at St. Albert the Great Parish, informed parishioners earlier this month of an audit that revealed “irregularities” in the Cafeteria Consortium account, which pays for meals to 11 schools in the Dayton area.

The Cafeteria Consortium requires a bank account that’s separate from the parish operations because it includes state and federal grants, Worland wrote Nov. 1 in the church bulletin.

“It appears these irregularities occurred within the last 15 months,” Worland’s bulletin reads. “Because the Cafeteria Consortium operates within the purview of St. Albert the Great, I have a responsibility to be transparent about these findings. However, because there is an on-going investigation, I cannot provide more details at this time.”

UPDATE @ 11:50 a.m. (Nov. 10, 2015)

The case against a Kettering woman accused of stealing money from St. Albert the Great Catholic Parish will be presented to a grand jury, the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office announced today.

The allegations against 39-year-old Stacy Bowling are being investigated, but there are no formal charges filed at this point, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Kettering police announced Bowling’s arrest on Monday, alleging she stole $45,000 from a business account she was managing at St. Albert the Great Catholic Parish on Far Hills Avenue.

FIRST REPORT (Nov. 9, 2015)

A Kettering woman has been arrested on charges accusing her of stealing more than $45,000 from St. Albert the Great Catholic Parish.

Kettering police said Monday that Stacy Bowling, 39, was in charge of a business account at the church, 3033 Far Hills Ave., and wrote checks and made debit purchases for personal reasons.

We’re working to learn more about this case and will update this story as details are released.

Education union worker gets jail time in embezzlement case in Ohio

A Jackson Township woman will spend six months in jail for stealing roughly $185,000 from the East Central Ohio Education Association.
Eva M. Gutwein, 54, of 5372 Blarney Circle NW, had pleaded guilty in early September to charges of aggravated theft and forgery, both felonies, for swindling funds while she was an administrative assistant at the district office of the Ohio Education Association, also known as the state teacher’s union.
“I’m truly sorry for what I did,” Gutwein said prior to Monday’s sentencing before Stark County Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Forchione. “... I really did try to take care of it and I know that was wrong.”
Gutwein was referring to paying back $97,000 before she was contacted by police about fraudulent financial transactions.
The association represents more than 8,000 members — public educators and school staff as well as retirees —  in Stark, Wayne, Holmes, Carroll, Tuscarawas and Columbiana counties.
Gutwein had worked at the ECOEA office for about 12 years.
The thefts occurred between January 2003 to March 28, 2013, according to court records. Gutwein cashed checks from multiple accounts, used Chase and American Express accounts for personal use, and forged and used four checks with an ECOEA account number, the records said.
Gutwein also forged bank statements and letters without the authority of the banks involved or the IRS, according to court papers.
‘SLAP IN THE FACE’
Forchione noted that Gutwein did not have a prior criminal record. After release from jail, she will be on probation for three years. She also cannot hold a job with financial responsibilities unless approved by the court.
Forchione also said she must complete 200 hours of community service for the Stark County District Library’s literacy program.
“Teachers in Stark County work very hard,” the judge said. “They’re underpaid, under-appreciated and at times taken for granted, and your actions are a slap in the face...”
Hope Konovsky, an assistant Stark County prosecutor, said she believes “it was a very fair and reasonable sentence.”
She also noted the lack of a prior record as well as the repayment of funds, “which we also almost never see.”
“I think it is definitely a punishment to her,” Konovsky said of jail. “And she also still has the prison term hanging over her head if she doesn’t follow through with the rest of her probation.”
Rick Pitinii, Gutwein’s attorney, said it was a difficult case for both sides. “Hopefully she’ll be able to work her way through this.”

A payment of roughly $88,000 was made to fulfill the restitution owed as part of the $185,000 figure cited in the indictment, Forchione said.
“I know how bad it was,” said Gutwein, her voice breaking. “... And I ask for time to heal.”
Prior to sentencing, Angela Stewart, president of the Plain Township-based East Central Ohio Education Association, lashed out at Gutwein.
In addition to the $185,000, the group has suffered financially with penalties and other costs totaling tens of thousands of dollars, she said.
Stewart, the East Central president for about seven years, recommended the maximum sentence — up to three years in prison on each felony.
Gutwein stole union dues money, the group’s only source of revenue, Stewart said. The fraud has been a “huge drain on our ability to serve our members,” she said.
Gutwein showed no remorse for her actions, Stewart said.
“Let me be clear,” she said, raising her voice in anger. “This was no accident. It was carefully planned and executed — the only accident was she got caught

Dublin, Ohio School Volunteer Accused of Embezzlement Pleads 'Not Guilty'

Dublin resident Jaylene Leslie was arraigned today at the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice on charges of embezzlement and grand theft. Leslie is accused of embezzling more than $38,000 from the Parent Faculty Club at Dougherty Elementary School.

Leslie is a former board member for Dublin Partnerships in Education and former President of the Dougherty Elementary Parent Faculty Club, who had been recognized by the Dublin School Board for her volunteer work in May 2011 just two months before the embezzlement began.

Leslie is due back at the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasanton on Sept. 25. at 9 a.m.

Former Cuyahoga Heights district employee stole $3.4 million; gets 11-year prison term in Ohio

A former employee of the Cuyahoga Heights School District was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for the theft of more than $3.4 million from the district, said U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach.

Joseph M. Palazzo, 31, of Independence, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and wire fraud.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson sentenced Palazzo to 136 months in prison and ordered him to pay $3.4 million in restitution.

"This investigation uncovered a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme laced with a web of financial lies that left a local school district in financial peril," said Kathy Enstrom, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

Palazzo was employed by the Cuyahoga Heights School District as its Information Technology Director until February 2011.  Palazzo was responsible for managing the district's IT Department, which included purchasing hardware and software and making other IT expenditures to benefit the district and its students, according to court documents.

Palazzo devised a scheme to divert millions of dollars of district funds to his personal use and the personal use of others.

This scheme involved Palazzo submitting to the district for payment false invoices that purported to be for IT-related goods and services purchased from legitimate companies by the district's IT Department to benefit the district.

Palazzo represented that the invoices he submitted were legitimate, and he approved the false invoices himself or forged the signature of another in the approval section, according to court documents.

However, these invoices were for services never performed, fictitious software and hardware, and software and hardware never received or already purchased by the district from another source.  The companies named on the invoices did not supply such goods to or perform such services for the district and were nothing more than "shells," according to court documents.

Palazzo's actions caused the district to issue checks to these shell vendor corporations, which were established and owned by others working with Palazzo.

As a result of the conduct of Palazzo and his co-conspirators, the district was defrauded and sustained a total loss of at least $3,333,448, according to court documents.

Palazzo also engaged in a second scheme to defraud the district.  It involved Palazzo purchasing various personal electronic items, such as I-Pads, cameras, and televisions, from legitimate district vendors.

Palazzo then altered the invoices from such purchases to falsely reflect that classroom items, such as digital microscopes, projectors, and laptops, had been purchased for the district and submitted those invoices to the district for payment.

Upon receipt of these personal electronic items, Palazzo sold them to third-parties at a discounted price and kept the money from such sales for his own personal use, according to the information.

As a result of the Palazzo's conduct in the second scheme, the district was defrauded and sustained an additional loss of at least $76,214, according to the information.

Ex-boosters treasurer gets jail for embezzlement in Ohio

The former treasurer of the Springboro Athletic Boosters was sentenced today to 90 days in the Warren County jail – with work release - for embezzling about $440,000 from the group.
Thomas Harves, 61, of Springboro completed full restitution after the hearing. He was also placed on probation for three years and ordered to pay the costs of his prosecution during a hearing in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
You’re going to avoid prison as long as you do exactly what I say,” Judge James Flannery said during the hearing.
During an April 11 plea hearing, Harves admitted stealing $439,455 and pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated theft, a third-degree felony.
Authorities suspect Harve — a member of the Springboro Sports Hall of Fame for his contributions to the district’s sports programs - took considerably more from the group over the past 20 years, but bank recors only went back to 2004 and might not reflect cash embezzlement, Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said.
Harves had already repaid all but $157,883 to the booster group. The sentencing was delayed while Harves underwent skin cancer treatment.

Former school clerk sentenced in embezzlement in Ohio

A former Warren County Career Center clerk on Wednesday was placed on house arrest for 120 days and ordered to pay restitution of $4,753 she embezzled from the school.
Judge Robert Peeler also placed Teresa A. Lindsey, 47, of Wayne Twp., on probation for three years during a hearing in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

Assistant County Prosecutor John Arnold urged Peeler to send a cautionary message to others tempted to embezzle from schools or community groups by sending Lindsey to jail.

However Peeler said the sentence allowing Lindsey, a single mother, to care for her son and continue working two part-time jobs, was a better solution.

“Most people go to jail for these theft in office offenses,” Peeler said. “We have to send a message here.”

Lindsey admitted stealing the money while working as a clerk in the school’s adult education department and altering paper and computer records to cover the thefts. A change in bookkeeping systems at the school partially obscured the entirety of the embezzlement, Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said.

The discrepancies were discovered in June 2012 after the new accounting system was set up at the school, north of Lebanon in Clearcreek Twp. Lindsey, a part-time worker for more than a decade, resigned the same month, school officials said.

At the hearing, Lindsey apologized and promised to never embezzle again. Convicted of tampering with records and theft in office, Lindsey is “forever disqualified from holding any public office, employment, or position of trust in this state,” according to court records.

Peeler barred her from returning to the school. Officials said additional safeguards had been added to prevent future embezzlement.

Ohio sports booster pleads guilty in embezzlement

Southwest Ohio prosecutors say a longtime high school sports booster has pleaded guilty in an embezzlement case.
The Warren County prosecutor's office says 61-year-old Thomas Harves of Springboro pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated theft. Common Pleas Judge James Flannery ordered a presentencing investigation.
Prosecutors say the man signed and cashed more than 300 unauthorized checks from the Spring Athletics Boosters account, totaling more than $400,000. They say he paid back much of the money.
He had served on the boosters' board as president and later treasurer.
Police say they found no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved in embezzling funds from the boosters. Board members had gone to the Springboro police department in 2012 with their concerns.
A message for comment was left Thursday at Harves' home

Probing Ohio school board member says concentrated power, secrecy led to massive embezzlement

FROM: http://eagnews.org

Embezzlement doesn’t happen by accident, particularly in a small school district where many people have been working together for years.
It’s fostered by a culture of concentrated power, secrecy and financial negligence, sometimes dating back years.
And it becomes more likely when concerned school board members are kept out of the loop and told to mind their own business, even though they are elected to help govern the school district.
That’s what happened in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Heights school district, according to Dr. Holly Thacker, a school board member who continued to ask questions until she managed to uncover a massive financial rip-off of the district.
The Ohio state auditor recently accused Joseph Palazzo, the district’s former technology director, of cheating the district out of $4.2 million by improperly approving payments to seven technology vendors that were operated by his friends and relatives.
Some products and services that were purchased by the district were never delivered, according to the state auditor. Some were delivered but were apparently re-sold to or given other people who had no connection to the district.
Criminal charges have yet to be filed, but the FBI is investigating the situation and the school board recently voted to sue in an attempt to recover the missing funds.
Thacker says the entire situation might have been discovered much sooner, or perhaps prevented altogether, if district administrators and school board members had been more attentive and open to inquiries.
“I think it’s easy to steal money from public schools when everybody is so close – teachers, board members, the union, administrators,” Thacker told EAGnews. “If you don’t have checks and balances, that isn’t a good thing.”
Culture of complicity?
The Cuyahoga Heights school district is a small, prosperous district in the middle of Cuyahoga County, not far from Cleveland. It had an annual budget of about $14.6 million in 2011.
Thacker, the mother of three students in the district, got her first taste of local school politics when her husband served on the Cuyahoga Heights school board between 2002 and 2006.
Thacker was elected to the board in 2010 and soon became concerned about financial accountability. She noted that many significant expenditures were made without prior board approval.
But she said nobody seemed receptive to her questions or concerns.
At one point she said the former superintendent, Peter Guerrera, told her she was not allowed to contact the school’s attorney, and the district treasurer told her other board members “wouldn’t like her” if she contacted the attorney. She said her fellow board members, many of them longtime veterans, acted as though she was sticking her nose into business that shouldn’t concern her.
She said few officials responded positively when her husband called for a complete material audit of the district at a board finance meeting in November 2010.
By December 2010, Thacker said she was so frustrated with the lack of information that she refused to vote yes on any district expenditures.
“When I joined the board, the former superintendent suggested I join the dress code committee, but I asked for an appointment to the financial committee,” Thacker said. “I knew we were going to have to go for a (property tax) levy soon, and I was disappointed that there had not been regular finance committee meetings in more than four years.
“I felt I wasn’t getting the information pertaining to financial questions I had. Bills were being paid without financial approval or scrutiny. I was told that schools don’t budget like businesses.
“I sat in executive meetings and had school attorneys, administrators and board members scream at me because I was asking questions. It looked to me like a culture of complicity, with so many people related to each other, or friends with each other, in a small community.”
Demanding the truth
Thacker said she first noticed a seemingly large amount of money being spent for technology purposes in the summer of 2010. She and her husband did some research and found very little information online regarding some of the technology vendors receiving money from the district.
That November she noticed a small entry in the school auditor’s report referring to “excessive expenditures” for technology products and services. She said she demanded more information but received few responses from fellow board members or the administration.
She also became concerned about the longtime presence of three supposed volunteers working in the district technology office. She later found out there were being paid by some of the vendors that were doing business with Palazzo.
“I began asking questions and I was told technology costs a lot of money,” Thacker said. “I wondered why we were spending so much money on laptops when we don’t use laptops anymore. I noted the name of one of the vendors – Laptops and More – and I was told the expenses had to do with the ‘more’ part.”
In January, 2011 Thacker authored two new policies that were adopted by the school board. One required all expenditures over $5,000 to have prior approval of the board. The other required school personnel making purchases to disclose any personal connections they may have with vendors.
Palazzo responded by disclosing that two of the vendors receiving school district money were owned by his brother.
“Once that happened, I was increasingly concerned,” Thacker said.
Thacker contacted the state auditor’s office and reported what she knew. Another school board member apparently went to the interim superintendent, who took over when Guerrera retired in December, and told her about the situation.
Thacker also became worried about the safety of her family and contacted the county sheriff. Thacker and her husband met with the sheriff in early February, shared their information, and were told to keep quiet.
Discovering huge losses
In late February, 2011 the school board decided to pull a scheduled property tax millage proposal off the school ballot due to “financial irregularities.” They also voted to suspend Palazzo, who resigned shortly afterward.
About the same time federal, state and local authorities started a criminal investigation, and the state auditor started a special technology criminal audit of the district. The state ordered the school board to pay for that audit at a cost expected to be in the $40,000 to $60,000 range, Thacker said.
School board members were not briefed on the results of the criminal audit until October 8 of this year. On Oct. 16 state Auditor Dave Yost held a press conference to disclose the findings of the audit to the public.
In short, the audit found 436 payments made by the district to seven companies owned by relatives or friends of Palazzo between July 1, 2007 and Feb. 22, 2011 for a total of $3,844,155. The district received no apparent goods or services for the payments.
The audit also identified 179 payments totaling $336,495 for goods and services which were “diverted for purposes unrelated to district operations.”
Kickbacks may also have been involved. The audit uncovered 347 payments totaling $1,308,194 from four of the vendors to Palazzo, after district payments were made to those companies.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to look into the situation, but no arrests have been made or charges filed.
School boards should be the boss
The situation has left the small Cuyahoga Heights district in a state of alarm, according to Thacker.
Last week the school board voted to file a lawsuit in an attempt to recover the lost funds from Palazzo.
“People are angry, outraged and calling for longtime board members to resign,” she said. “Everybody is pointing fingers at everybody. People need to have all the facts. Things need to be done transparently.”
Amazingly that idea has not sunk in with everybody in the district, Thacker said.
Despite the huge financial losses and lack of accountability, several district officials have either ignored the policy requiring board pre-approval of expenditures of more than $5,000, or called for the policy to be dumped, according to Thacker.
“Are you kidding me?” Thacker said. “That’s the culture. But when you get a lot of power and a lot of money together it’s not a good combination.”
Thacker has a real problem with the traditional definition of a school board member.
While board members are elected by citizens to govern school districts, that’s usually not what they do. Instead they are told that their job is to set “broad policy,” then step back and let the “expert” administrators manage the districts with little interference or oversight.
The apparent embezzlement at Cuyahoga Heights demonstrates how that traditional policy can lead to big problems, according to Thacker.
“I think there is a big, huge concern when nobody is looking at what’s going on,” she said. “It’s ripe for problems. I remember sitting there in utter disbelief at the retirement party for our former superintendent. One board member was gushing about how wonderful it was to work for him. He didn’t work for him. The superintendent works for the board.
“Boards have to be involved. You can’t take things at face value, and you can’t be deterred when you’re accused of micromanaging. The board should be the boss. There has to be checks and balances.”

PTO President Accused of Embezzlement in Ohio

PTO president is accused of embezzling thousands of dollars raised by bake sales from a Columbus charter school.
Eastland Performance Academy, on the city's southeast side, reported $2,500 dollars missing from the PTO bank account and according to police reports the account was overdrawn by $1,600.

Columbus police are investigating and they tell NBC4's Denise Alex that so far, no one has been charged.

School officials say the PTO president missed several PTO meetings, pulled her kids from the school and hasn't return phone calls since the missing money was uncovered.

"If she went through and misspent funds that were raised for kids to go on field trips then obviously she needs to go to jail or at least pay that money back," said Toby Pinkerton of Eastland Performance Academy.

Pinkerton says the school elected a new president and treasurer Wednesday night. The management company for the academy plans to cover the cost for the field trips and the 8th grade graduation.

Former Gesu official gets 2 years in prison for embezzling money from parish to feed gambling habit in Toledo, Ohio.

Saying she didn’t ever want to return to that “deep, dark place” she was at when she stole more than $500,000 from Gesu Roman Catholic Parish, the parish’s former business manager apologized Friday in U.S. District Court for embezzling the money to feed a gambling habit.

“I’m very grateful for the FBI, and the bank, and Gesu because I honestly feel they saved my life,” a tearful Patricia Ann Stanz told the court. “... I was defenseless, and I wanted to get caught. I immediately admitted my wrongdoings that day, and the relief that I felt was totally indescribable.”

Calling the case “an aggravated abuse of trust,” Judge James Carr sentenced Stanz, 61, to two years in federal prison and ordered her to repay $505,777 that she stole from the West Toledo parish. He also ordered her to perform 100 hours of community service when she is released from prison.

She had pleaded guilty in September to one count each of counterfeit securities and fraudulent use of access device.

While Andy Hart, attorney for Stanz, said he did not believe prison was the appropriate place for Stanz given her lack of criminal history and the unlikelihood she would reoffend, the judge said repeatedly that a prison sentence was necessary to deter the public from repeating her crime.

“I think a severe sentence in this circumstance is important, and I do think that it will enhance respect for the law,” Judge Carr said.

He said with the nearby convenience of the Hollywood Casino just off I-75 in East Toledo, he wants people to know they will go to prison if they decide to do what Stanz did.

“If somebody tonight walks into the doors of that casino down the road with somebody else’s money and happens to hear about the very sentence I impose and decides to turn around and stop or seek help, I think that this will have served a very useful purpose,” Judge Carr said.

The Rev. James Auth, retired pastor of Regina Coeli parish, spoke on Stanz’s behalf before the sentence was imposed.

He told the court he has done “addictive work and counseling” for many years and has seen Stanz transformed since she got involved with Gamblers Anonymous a year ago.

“She’s done everything right. She’s a better person,” Father Auth said. “I believe she’s in a recovery that will last.”

Thomas Karol, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the court the severity of the crime demanded prison time.

“This was not a minor embezzlement,” he said. “This occurred over four years, approximately $500,000, and repeated instances of it.”

Prosecutors said Stanz used the parish’s signature stamp to cash some 97 checks totaling $295,000 from the parish’s checking account between June, 2008, and February, 2011. She also used a Gesu credit card for purchases and cash advances totaling more than $230,000 from September, 2008, to August, 2011.

The restitution ordered includes $471,659 that was reimbursed by the diocese’s insurance carrier and $34,118 for which Gesu was not reimbursed.

The Rev. Marty Lukas, current pastor at Gesu, was not at the parish when Stanz was indicted and did not attend the hearing.

"I just think that it's nice that it's brought to a close now," he said when contacted afterward. "We can move ahead."

Ohio archdiocese sues ex-worker, says he embezzled

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati and three of its parishes have sued the parishes' former business manager, alleging he embezzled a total of more than $350,000 over several years.
The lawsuit filed Monday in a Hamilton County court alleges Thomas Martin, of Mason, failed to deposit money into parish bank accounts, forged checks and paid fake bills to businesses that the suit says he controlled and that also are named in the suit. The lawsuit also says Martin skimmed parish collection deposits.
The archdiocese says it fired Martin and reported the allegations to the county prosecutor's office. No charges have been filed.
Martin's telephone number wasn't listed. Women answering phones at the two businesses named in the suit declined to comment.
The lawsuit seeks at least $353,000 and punitive damages

Probing Ohio school board member says concentrated power, secrecy led to massive embezzlement

Embezzlement doesn’t happen by accident, particularly in a small school district where many people have been working together for years.

It’s fostered by a culture of concentrated power, secrecy and financial negligence, sometimes dating back years.
And it becomes more likely when concerned school board members are kept out of the loop and told to mind their own business, even though they are elected to help govern the school district.

That’s what happened in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Heights school district, according to Dr. Holly Thacker, a school board member who continued to ask questions until she managed to uncover a massive financial rip-off of the district.

The Ohio state auditor recently accused Joseph Palazzo, the district’s former technology director, of cheating the district out of $4.2 million by improperly approving payments to seven technology vendors that were operated by his friends and relatives.

Some products and services that were purchased by the district were never delivered, according to the state auditor. Some were delivered but were apparently re-sold to or given other people who had no connection to the district.

Criminal charges have yet to be filed, but the FBI is investigating the situation and the school board recently voted to sue in an attempt to recover the missing funds.

Thacker says the entire situation might have been discovered much sooner, or perhaps prevented altogether, if district administrators and school board members had been more attentive and open to inquiries.

“I think it’s easy to steal money from public schools when everybody is so close – teachers, board members, the union, administrators,” Thacker told EAGnews. “If you don’t have checks and balances, that isn’t a good thing.”

Culture of complicity?

The Cuyahoga Heights school district is a small, prosperous district in the middle of Cuyahoga County, not far from Cleveland. It had an annual budget of about $14.6 million in 2011.

Thacker, the mother of three students in the district, got her first taste of local school politics when her husband served on the Cuyahoga Heights school board between 2002 and 2006.

Thacker was elected to the board in 2010 and soon became concerned about financial accountability. She noted that many significant expenditures were made without prior board approval.

But she said nobody seemed receptive to her questions or concerns.

At one point she said the former superintendent, Peter Guerrera, told her she was not allowed to contact the school’s attorney, and the district treasurer told her other board members “wouldn’t like her” if she contacted the attorney. She said her fellow board members, many of them longtime veterans, acted as though she was sticking her nose into business that shouldn’t concern her.

She said few officials responded positively when her husband called for a complete material audit of the district at a board finance meeting in November 2010.

By December 2010, Thacker said she was so frustrated with the lack of information that she refused to vote yes on any district expenditures.

“When I joined the board, the former superintendent suggested I join the dress code committee, but I asked for an appointment to the financial committee,” Thacker said. “I knew we were going to have to go for a (property tax) levy soon, and I was disappointed that there had not been regular finance committee meetings in more than four years.

“I felt I wasn’t getting the information pertaining to financial questions I had. Bills were being paid without financial approval or scrutiny. I was told that schools don’t budget like businesses.

“I sat in executive meetings and had school attorneys, administrators and board members scream at me because I was asking questions. It looked to me like a culture of complicity, with so many people related to each other, or friends with each other, in a small community.”

Demanding the truth

Thacker said she first noticed a seemingly large amount of money being spent for technology purposes in the summer of 2010. She and her husband did some research and found very little information online regarding some of the technology vendors receiving money from the district.

That November she noticed a small entry in the school auditor’s report referring to “excessive expenditures” for technology products and services. She said she demanded more information but received few responses from fellow board members or the administration.

She also became concerned about the longtime presence of three supposed volunteers working in the district technology office. She later found out there were being paid by some of the vendors that were doing business with Palazzo.

“I began asking questions and I was told technology costs a lot of money,” Thacker said. “I wondered why we were spending so much money on laptops when we don’t use laptops anymore. I noted the name of one of the vendors – Laptops and More – and I was told the expenses had to do with the ‘more’ part.”

In January, 2011 Thacker authored two new policies that were adopted by the school board. One required all expenditures over $5,000 to have prior approval of the board. The other required school personnel making purchases to disclose any personal connections they may have with vendors.

Palazzo responded by disclosing that two of the vendors receiving school district money were owned by his brother.

“Once that happened, I was increasingly concerned,” Thacker said.

Thacker contacted the state auditor’s office and reported what she knew. Another school board member apparently went to the interim superintendent, who took over when Guerrera retired in December, and told her about the situation.

Thacker also became worried about the safety of her family and contacted the county sheriff. Thacker and her husband met with the sheriff in early February, shared their information, and were told to keep quiet.

Discovering huge losses

In late February, 2011 the school board decided to pull a scheduled property tax millage proposal off the school ballot due to “financial irregularities.” They also voted to suspend Palazzo, who resigned shortly afterward.

About the same time federal, state and local authorities started a criminal investigation, and the state auditor started a special technology criminal audit of the district. The state ordered the school board to pay for that audit at a cost expected to be in the $40,000 to $60,000 range, Thacker said.

School board members were not briefed on the results of the criminal audit until October 8 of this year. On Oct. 16 state Auditor Dave Yost held a press conference to disclose the findings of the audit to the public.

In short, the audit found 436 payments made by the district to seven companies owned by relatives or friends of Palazzo between July 1, 2007 and Feb. 22, 2011 for a total of $3,844,155. The district received no apparent goods or services for the payments.

The audit also identified 179 payments totaling $336,495 for goods and services which were “diverted for purposes unrelated to district operations.”

Kickbacks may also have been involved. The audit uncovered 347 payments totaling $1,308,194 from four of the vendors to Palazzo, after district payments were made to those companies.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to look into the situation, but no arrests have been made or charges filed.

School boards should be the boss

The situation has left the small Cuyahoga Heights district in a state of alarm, according to Thacker.

Last week the school board voted to file a lawsuit in an attempt to recover the lost funds from Palazzo.

“People are angry, outraged and calling for longtime board members to resign,” she said. “Everybody is pointing fingers at everybody. People need to have all the facts. Things need to be done transparently.”

Amazingly that idea has not sunk in with everybody in the district, Thacker said.

Despite the huge financial losses and lack of accountability, several district officials have either ignored the policy requiring board pre-approval of expenditures of more than $5,000, or called for the policy to be dumped, according to Thacker.

“Are you kidding me?” Thacker said. “That’s the culture. But when you get a lot of power and a lot of money together it’s not a good combination.”

Thacker has a real problem with the traditional definition of a school board member.

While board members are elected by citizens to govern school districts, that’s usually not what they do. Instead they are told that their job is to set “broad policy,” then step back and let the “expert” administrators manage the districts with little interference or oversight.

The apparent embezzlement at Cuyahoga Heights demonstrates how that traditional policy can lead to big problems, according to Thacker.

“I think there is a big, huge concern when nobody is looking at what’s going on,” she said. “It’s ripe for problems. I remember sitting there in utter disbelief at the retirement party for our former superintendent. One board member was gushing about how wonderful it was to work for him. He didn’t work for him. The superintendent works for the board.

“Boards have to be involved. You can’t take things at face value, and you can’t be deterred when you’re accused of micromanaging. The board should be the boss. There has to be checks and balances.”

Cleveland pastor pleads guilty to not paying over $90,000 in income taxes

www.newsnet5.com


The pastor of a Cleveland church who was federally charged with not paying more than $90,000 in income taxes has pleaded guilty.
Charles Matthews of Solon entered the during plea during a hearing Friday morning in Cleveland. He was the senior pastor of Mount Sinai Baptist Church and Ministries in Cleveland.
He was facing six counts in the information that was filed earlier this week -- and pleaded guilty to all of those counts. He could face 18 to 24 months in prison when he's sentenced.
Matthews was in charge of two financial accounts at the church – one for the church itself and one for his own use, dubbed a pastor’s account.
The information alleged that while Mt. Sinai deducted and collected the required income tax and FICA withholdings from the total taxable wages of its employees, Matthews “willfully failed to report and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service those withheld taxes.”
Prosecutors alleged Matthews instead “caused those funds to be used for other purposed including transfers into the pastor’s account for his own personal use.”
According to the information, Matthews also failed to report and pay the employer’s share of FICA taxes.
The total amount prosecutors said Matthews failed to pay between October 2005 and January 2007 was $90,767.43.
According to the church's website, Dr. C. Jay Matthews was named pastor of the church in January 1988.

Former Cleveland Schools director who bilked thousands gets probation

FROM WOIO.COM -

A woman who embezzled nearly $20K dollars from the Cleveland School District has been sentenced to probation.




Restitution has been ordered in the amount of $18,630.48.



From March 2005 through December 2006, 54-year-old Janice Pink-King stole $18,630.48 using her position as Cleveland School District Director of Employee Services Payroll.



She obtained a salary advance and then paid herself back by check from the money that was previously deducted. Additionally, she paid herself back the amount deducted from her paycheck for retirement.



On June 23rd, Pink-King pleaded guilty to one count of theft in office and three counts of forgery.

Ohio Judge Sentences Byram to 3 Years Probation for Embezzlement

This afternoon, Sarah Clayton-Byram stood before Judge Christopher Gee on a charge of embezzlement from Broadway PALS (Parents Actively Linked with School) an organization where Mrs. Byram served as its Treasurer.

Mrs. Byram plead guilty to the charge of embezzlement during her arraignment in March and was sentenced today by Judge Gee to three (3) years probation and was also ordered to take a college level class in financial management that she will pay for herself. Mrs. Byram has since paid restitution to the PALS organization in the full amount ($38,000) and stated in court today that she “deeply regrets and unconditionally apologizes to the PALS organization, to its board members, to the children it supports and to the Tipp City community, for the crime that I have committed”
Andi Trzeciak, Board Chair for Broadway PALS shared with TippNews that “the PALS board is happy that we can move forward and look forward to the future of PALS. The Board had previously agreed to remain silent after the arraignment and will remain silent regarding (Mrs. Byram’s) sentencing. Mrs. Byram has made restitution to the organization, and we are looking towards Fun Fair”. Fun Fair is the organization’s largest fundraising event of the year and occurs this Friday at Broadway Elementary, located at 223 West Broadway Avenue, Tipp City.