Federal Way police are investigating a former Enterprise Elementary parent-teacher association treasurer who is accused of embezzling over $13,474 from funds that were collected during various fundraisers.
The allegations came to light when the school’s PTA president and secretary reported the incident to police on Sunday. Both women stated that in February of 2018, the suspect was voted to be the treasurer of the PTA, according to the Federal Way police report. She served as treasurer until her resignation on Nov. 20.
The PTA members related that since the woman had been treasurer, they had discovered approximately $13,474 missing from the PTA’s Bank of America checking account. Over $4,117 in cash was missing from a walk-a-thon, $500 cash from a fill-a-truck event via Goodwill, $4,000 from a silent auction and $2,000 from a Scholastic book fair, the report continues. The board members told police all of these events were held as fundraisers for the PTA and the cash was turned over to the suspect to deposit into the PTA’s bank account.
The board members claimed that the suspect also wrote herself two checks, one in the amount of $1,393 and the other for $1,462. The suspect was unable to explain why she wrote the checks to herself and did not provide the board any receipts indicating that she was owed the money, according to the police report.
Both board members have made repeated attempts to ask the suspect to explain herself and provide a financial statement or return the money. The only response the board has received so far is a handwritten letter from the suspect to the board that states:
“I have searched through boxes the last 2 days and have only found a few things that I know are missing. I was informed this morning that there are boxes in a spot that I was not aware of. At this time I don’t just have the money to replace what has gone missing, but would be willing to make arrangements until I find it. I know I failed at keeping it safe and I am going to be starting to deal with my depression issues with a counsler [sic] in the next few weeks.”
The Enterprise Elementary PTA board members also claimed that in addition to the missing money, the suspect wrote numerous checks to various people and organizations, and signed the checks using either the president or secretary’s name, the report continues. The board members are uncertain if the suspect wrote these checks for legitimate purposes, and they did not give the suspect permission to sign their names on the checks.
The district nor the board members could not be reached for immediate response.
