West Covina parent accused of embezzling from PTA, Girl Scouts and Little League

A West Covina woman was arrested earlier this month after allegedly embezzling more than $78,000 from the PTA at her daughter’s school, a Girl Scouts troop and the West Covina American Little League, authorities said Monday afternoon.

Veronica Paderez, 37, was arrested on Feb. 4 and booked on suspicion of grand theft after detectives from the West Covina Police Department received reports she stole money from the PTA at Vine Elementary School, said West Covina police spokesman Rudy Lopez.

Paderez had been involved with the PTA since 2014 and had access to the association’s bank accounts. According to the school’s website, Paderez served as the group’s treasurer during the 2014-15 academic year.

A preliminary audit revealed the loss of more than $52,000 from several fraudulent transactions, Lopez said.

Further investigation revealed that Paderez was also involved in the finances belonging to the West Covina American Little League and Girl Scout Troop #4754, Lopez said. The youth baseball group has reported more than $26,000 in losses. Detectives are still trying to determine the exact loss incurred by the Girl Scouts.

Lopez said Paderez’s daughter is in the Girl Scout troop and that an older son participates in Little League.

According to online booking records, Paderez posted $85,000 for her bail the night of her arrest.

No charges have been filed.

Paderez did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Girl Scout leaders accused of embezzlement appear in court in West Virginia

Two Parkersburg women accused of embezzling girl scout funds appeared in Wood County court Tuesday. Denise Davis and Mary Farnsworth were indicted for embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a felony.

The former troop leaders allegedly took a trip to Disney World, Sea World and an Everglades Cruise with the stolen money.

Tuesday a plea deal was to be entered by both defendants in which they agreed to pay back $2,500 with all charges dropped and no admission of guilt.

MariJo Tedesco, a former employee of the Black Diamond Council, took the stand to convince the judge to look at the case again and reconsider the plea deal.

"Not once has anyone expressed concern for the girls that were used for the profit of those that were supposed to protect and nurture them. Girl Scouts are supposed to empower girls and make responsible, honest and productive adults of the girls involved. What are we teaching the girls and society as a whole if people in positions of authority are allowed to abuse their privileges over the span of years and endure no consequence for it," says Tedesco.

Judge Beane agrees to look at the case again and will have both parties submit statements to probation and probation will submit a complete report to the judge. If the judge rejects it, defendants will have to enter a plea.

2 ex-Parkersburg, WV Girl Scout leaders face embezzlement charges

Two Parkersburg women have been indicted on charges that they used Girl Scout funds to take a trip to Florida.

Media outlets report a Wood County grand jury indicted Denise Davis and Mary Farnworth on Thursday on charges of embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Both are former troop leaders of the Girls Scouts of the Black Diamond Council. Council spokeswoman Jennifer Brown says Davis still works as the council's director of membership services.

Special prosecutor Joshua Downey says the women allegedly used $2,400 from cookie and yard sales to take their daughters and a friend to Sea World in 2011. Downey says the money came from outreach groups.

The Black Diamond Council serves most of West Virginia, along with some areas of Virginia, Ohio and Maryland.

Woman indicted on embezzlement from Scouts in Virginia

A grand jury meeting in Accomack County on Monday, Aug. 4, indicted a 33-year-old woman on five counts of embezzlement from three local Scouting organizations.

Angela L. Taylor, for whom court documents list a Virginia Beach address, was indicted on one count of embezzling $200 or more from Girl Scout Troop 393, one count of embezzling $200 or more from Grace United Methodist Church Boy Scout Troop 303 and three counts of embezzling $200 of more from Grace United Methodist Church Cub Scout Pack 300.

The charges are related to activity dating to between October 2011 and November 2013.

Ex-Girl Scouts CEO gets 3 months for embezzlement

A former Girl Scouts executive in Virginia will serve a three-month sentence after pleading guilty to embezzling nearly $23,000 from the organization.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/1qEFZg5) that 62-year-old Linda Carne of Crozier was sentenced Monday. A Hanover Circuit Court judge suspended all but three months of a five-year sentence.

Carne pleaded guilty in April. She served as CEO of the Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia from April 2010 to December 2011.

Prosecutors say Carne used a Girl Scout-issued credit card to pay for stays in posh hotels, baseball game tickets, spa services and rental of a North Carolina beach house.

The former leader of the 12,000-member Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia will serve three months in jail for a felony embezzlement scam that drained an average of more than $1,000 a month from Scout funds.

Linda Carne, 62, had entered a guilty plea in April and was released on bond after hearing special prosecutor Matthew Ackley describe a complex scheme in which Carne disguised family trips and luxury accommodations as part of outreach efforts.

Hanover Circuit Court Judge Patricia Kelly ordered Carne, a former associate of author Patricia Cornwell and an administrator at Randolph-Macon College, to serve five years in prison, but she suspended all but three months.

Carne will serve 85 percent of that term and was taken immediately into custody as a smattering of well-wishers and detractors watched from the courtroom. Kelly said Carne can apply for work release if she is eligible.

Carne, who lived in Crozier, pleaded guilty after a complex investigation by forensic accountants that cost nearly $52,000 — more than twice the $22,979.80 that Carne admitted she stole.

Carne was fired in December 2011, about 20 months after having been brought into the administrative branch of the 12,000-scout, century-old organization in April 2010.

Carne was paid in excess of $100,000 a year, according to the Girl Scout organization, which covers some 30 counties and multiple cities, including Richmond, in the central Virginia region.

Ackley said earlier this year that investigators with the Virginia State Police and forensic accountants tracked down alleged contacts Carne said she had made on trips across the country, but discovered that Carne rarely, or barely, met with them.

Instead, she used her Scout-issued credit card to stay at such luxury hotels as The Algonquin in New York City, attended an equestrian event in Kentucky that cost $4,218, and scheduled her trips to coincide with professional baseball games in Major League cities. She often took family members along.

“This is not a happy day for us,” a Scout spokesperson said when Carne was convicted, noting that tight restrictions have been placed on the use of the Scout credit card.

After Carne resigned, she worked briefly in Ashland for Randolph-Macon College’s Center for Personal and Career Development. She was the former executive director of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine, the brainchild of former Richmond crime novelist Patricia Cornwell, who envisioned the institute as a training ground for forensic scientists.

The institute shut down when the General Assembly declined to fund it.

Former Girl Scout Leader Suspected of Embezzlement

Redlands Police have arrested a Girl Scout Troop leader they suspect used $5,000 of the scout’s money to buy a number of personal items including a computer, officials announced today.

Michelle Marie Villa, former troop leader with the Moreno Valley Girl Scouts, is suspected of embezzlement.

Investigators say she used the troop's debit card to purchase groceries, craft supplies, athletic gear and a computer and printer, between July 2012 and July 2013, according to Redlands Police spokesman Carl Baker.

Staff at the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio headquarters in Redlands reported their suspicions to Redlands Police in December 2013. Detectives served a search warrant at Villa’s home on Jan. 23, and, according to officials, recovered evidence. Villa was arrested the same day but has since has been released on $50,000 bail, officials said.

Ex-Girl Scouts official pleads guilty to embezzling $370,000

A former top official for the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles on Wednesday pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.

Channing Smack, 51, of Marina del Rey, was also ordered to pay about $370,000 that prosecutors say he embezzled from the youth organization known for its annual cookie sales.
Girl Scout officials say about $250,000 of that amount has already been recovered.
“We were outraged that a trusted member of our staff would violate the fundamental values we teach our girls every day,” said Carol Dedrich, the organization's chief external relations officer.
Smack had been accused by federal prosecutors of laundering $50,000 of the estimated $370,000, a federal offense that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Smack was arrested Dec. 17 after he started to cash in some of the stolen money.
According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Ryan Bell in support of the federal criminal complaint, Smack withdrew $64,500 on Monday, Dec. 16 from accounts believed to contain proceeds from the scheme.

The alleged withdrawal occurred an hour after he was confronted by FBI agents, authorities said.
Smack was responsible for managing the organization's 22 Los Angeles area properties. Girl Scouts officials became suspicious of Smack's actions and hired private investigators, who uncovered his alleged connection to a private contractor who supposedly did work on the properties.

In the last two years, Smack approved invoices for services supposedly provided by a firm called ZB Land Maintenance & Engineering, which is registered under the name of Smack’s deceased brother, Zachary Bryan Smack, according to an affidavit in the case.

The Girl Scouts issued 23 checks to ZB that totaled $368,278 between August 2012 and October 2013, according to the court document.
FBI agents obtained evidence showing most of the checks to ZB were deposited into one of two bank accounts opened under the names of the company and Smack’s deceased brother.
According to the affidavit, bank surveillance photographs show an individual who looks like Smack using the bank accounts to make deposits or withdrawals.
Federal authorities served seizure warrants on three bank accounts believed to contain embezzled funds — the ZB account and two personal accounts in Smack’s name, into which he is believed to have transferred funds derived from the Girl Scouts checks.

During an hour-long interview Dec. 16 when he was confronted by FBI agents, Smack asked FBI agents: "What am I looking at?"
When agents asked what he meant by that, Smack answered, "Am I going away for life?"
Smack is scheduled to be sentenced May 27.

Marina del Rey Man Charged in Girl Scouts Embezzlement Case

A Marina del Rey man made his first court appearance Wednesday on federal charges of laundering $50,000 out of nearly $370,000 he allegedly embezzled from the Girl Scouts while employed by the organization.

Channing Smack, who was a senior property manager of the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, was arrested Tuesday on money laundering charges.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is expected to add embezzlement counts against Smack, who was arrested a day after he withdrew $64,500 from accounts believed to contain proceeds of the alleged scheme. He was fired by the Girl Scouts just prior to his arrest, a spokesman said.

GSGLA spokeswoman Carol Dedrich said the organization was "shocked and disappointed" by the charges against one of its former executives.

"The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles has very high standards and expectations of our employees and our volunteers," she said. "We understand clearly that we all serve as role models for our girls and we take that responsibility very seriously."

She said the investigation began when GSGLA officials "discovered some irregularities" in Smack's work and turned the information over to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

According to the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint, Smack, 51, was responsible for managing the GSGLA's 22 properties in the Los Angeles area.

Prosecutors allege that over the past 18 months, Smack approved invoices for services purportedly provided by a firm called ZB Land Maintenance & Engineering, which is registered under the name of Smack's deceased brother.

Between August 2012 and two months ago, allegedly at Smack's direction, GSGLA issued 23 checks to ZB that totaled $368,278, according to court papers.

Federal prosecutors contend that most of the checks to ZB were deposited into one of two bank accounts opened under the names of the company and the defendant's late brother.

According to the affidavit, bank surveillance photographs show a man resembling Smack either depositing or withdrawing funds into or from those bank accounts.

Prosecutors served federal seizure warrants Monday on three bank accounts believed to contain embezzled funds -- the ZB account and two personal accounts in Smack's name into which he is believed to have transferred funds derived from the GSGLA checks.

Woman sought in embezzlement from Claremore Boy Scouts troop in Pennsylvania

An arrest warrant has been issued for a woman who is accused of embezzling $16,607 from a Claremore Boy Scouts troop.
Rachel Lunsford, 39, was charged in Rogers County District Court on Thursday, records show.
The Boy Scout troop’s committee chairman contacted police about suspicious activity on the troop’s checking account in July, when he realized it been overdrawn, a police affidavit states.
The chairman “identified numerous transactions in the checking account which do not reflect the expenditures” of the troop, including 23 checks written payable to cash, five checks to Lunsford family members and five checks to utility companies, according to the document. The troop was also reportedly missing $1,860 from fundraisers, an investigator wrote.
Lunsford is described as white, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 180 pounds.
Her last name also appears on some court records as Lundsford.

Girl Scout Embezzlement case delayed with new attorney in Colorado

The recent switch in public defenders serving Morgan County District Court again led to a continuance in the case against a Fort Morgan woman for allegedly embezzling local Girl Scout funds.

Jennifer Streit-Jensen, 33, faces charges in Morgan County District Court of class 4 felony theft of $1,000 to $20,000 and class 4 felony computer crime theft of $1,000 to $20,000 in connection with money that went missing from local Girl Scout troops.

Public Defender Lisa Herbst, who moved from Adams County District Court to Morgan County District Court in August, told District Court Judge Douglas Vannoy on Thursday that she needed more time to go through the evidence to prepare her case.

"We have a very large amount of discovery," Herbst said, adding that the evidence was on a computer disk and she and her client were going through it. "It's kind of an accounting issue and an accounting problem."

She said she was trying to figure out what all of the bank statements in that evidence could mean for her client.

Herbst asked for another continuance to a disposition hearing.

Dep. District Attorney Zachary Balkin did not object, but he did request that Vannoy make this the last disposition hearing continuance.

"I realize that they're changing attorneys, but this case is getting a little long in the tooth," he told the judge. "A representative from the Girl Scouts is present, and they are getting very frustrated" with delays.

The prosecution previously alleged Streit-Jensen took $6,427 worth of funds from area Girl Scout troops 3334, 357 and 108 between April 2 and Aug. 4, 2012.

Balkin added that many of the alleged victims in the case, "the actual Girl Scouts, are graduating and going off to college. They're not going to be around" to see the case's resolution.

Vannoy said he agreed with Balkin's concerns.

"We need a plea, a disposition or we need to go to trial if that's what's going to happen," he told the attorneys and Streit-Jensen.

He set the case over to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 29 for either a disposition hearing or an arraignment.

Streit-Jensen was not arrested in this case, instead receiving a summons in late January to appear in February to hear the charges against her.

Vannoy said her summons would continue until then.

If the case were to go to trial and Streit-Jensen were convicted on both class 4 felony charges, she could face two to six years in prison, but she also may be eligible for a probationary sentence.

A plea deal, which is at the District Attorney's Office's discretion, could net a more lenient sentence and conviction on only one felony charge or even on lesser charges.

Embezzlement charges after money goes missing from Boy Scout Troop in Wisconsin

A woman has been charged with embezzlement after allegedly stealing money from a local boy scout troop.

In January, the local troop's treasurer had asked for bank statements from Kathleen Potega, who had access to the accounts, because parents were asking about the troop's financial status. The treasurer found the account was overdrawn and numerous charges that she believed to be unauthorized, to places like Walmart and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Potega returned to the bank the day after she was questioned by the treasurer to dispute the charges, but the bank manager said Potega was "all over the place." A detective assigned to the case found still images of Potega making the purchases and she ultimately admitted to the crime.

According to the criminal complaint, Potega made 18 withdrawals from the ATM between July 2011 and Dec. 2012, worth $3,713. She also made 29 unauthorized purchases between July 2011 and Dec. 2012, worth $2,456.

Potega has been charged with Theft - Embezzlement and Fraud Against a Financial Institution. If convicted of both crimes, she could face up to 12 years in prison.

Eagle, Wisconsin woman accused of stealing money from Cub Scouts

A 35-year-old woman was charged Thursday in Waukesha County Circuit Court with three counts of misdemeanor theft, allegedly using a Eagle Cub Scout troop’s debit card to purchase $3,565 worth of gas, food and groceries in 2011.

According to the criminal complaint, Village of Eagle Police were first made aware of the accusation in July 2012, when Chairman Michael Flatow of Eagle Cub Scout Pack 54 reported suspicious activity on the troop’s account.

Flatow told police that Rachael M. Schneider, an assistant to the troop, had used the card for personal use between October and December 2011, the complaint reads.

In a little over two months, Flatow claimed Schneider had spent $1,301 at Walmart, $308 at Farm and Fleet and $349 at Pick N’ Save, according to the complaint.

Schneider admitted in a statement to police that she had used the Boy Scouts’ card for personal use and said she had paid the troop back in full, the complaint reads.

Flatow said that the troop has since increased security for how debit cards are handled, but would prefer not to discuss the issue.

Schneider could face up to a year and a half in prison and $30,000 in fines if convicted.

She is expected to make an initial appearance in court on July 22.

Former girl scout troop leader is accused of embezzlement in Kentucky on February 1, 2013

A Floyd County woman is accused of embezzling from a girl scout troop.

The Paintsville Herald reports 26-year-old Megan Willis was arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $2,000 from a girl scout troop while she was troop leader.

The arrest warrant says Willis used the money to buy gas, pay for things on an itunes account, pay for movie rentals, and for things in several other stores

Girl Scouts is a program meant to build character and develop skills, but now one troop has learned a shocking life lesson: people you trust can sometimes let you down.

According to the warrant filed in Johnson County District Court, officials with the Wilderness Road Council of the Girl Scouts say 26-year-old Megan Willis of Prestonsburg stole $1813.08 from the organization while she was serving as a troop leader in Johnson County.

The alleged theft took place between November 1 of 2011 through January 1 of 2012.

The warrant says Willis used the funds to buy gas, pharmaceuticals, download iTunes, and rent DVDs, among other things. It also says she was taken off the Girl Scout account in January 12, but refused to return the money.

Girl Scout Officials could not say the type of account the missing money came from.

Willis was arrested last month. She is charged with theft by unlawful taking. Her arraignment is set for February 11.

Officials at the Johnson County Circuit Clerk’s Office say Willis is out on bond under the condition that she has no contact with the Girl Scouts.