Lake County PTO Fraud was NOT a School District Matter
The Orlando Sentinel Published an article on Friday, Nov. 3rd that incorrectly
implied a school checking account was hit by a fraud. It was not a school
account and the headline writer should be chastised.
I thought I was reading an article on poor internal controls and management of
the Lake County (FL) School District, when BOOM - a Nov. 3rd Orlando Sentinel
article headline seemed to indicate there was a District fraud, BUT it was NOT a
school district bank account that was skimmed. So the headline saying a "deli
owner cooked school's books" was not accurate. I haven't seen any info in the
Daily Commercial. This fraud apparently occurred in the separate Parent-Teacher
Organization (PTO), which is a volunteer group independent of District control.
See my comments after the article.
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Cops say deli owner cooked school's books
The ex-New Yorker is accused of embezzling $10,926 as PTO treasurer at her
daughter's school.
Erin Cox
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 3, 2006
TAVARES -- Police arrested a deli-shop owner Thursday on charges that she
embezzled nearly $11,000 while serving as Parent-Teacher Organization treasurer
at her daughter's school.
According to police, Linda Beni wrote three checks totaling $10,926 out of the
Tavares Elementary School PTO accounts. Two of those checks were written
directly to her. The third check, equivalent to two months' rent for Butch's
Italian Delights in Tavares, was written to her landlord.
Beni, 44, was making sandwiches when police arrived with an arrest warrant for
two felony charges of grand theft and scheming to defraud.
"She knew why we were there," said Tavares Police Officer Eric Price, who
delivered the warrant. "She kept saying, 'This is so embarrassing, this is so
embarrassing.' "
Beni could not be reached for comment Thursday.
A new treasurer took over the PTO accounts in August and in October could not
balance the books. Beni told the new treasurer, Debra Mongan, that she had made
a mistake and deposited a $4,000 check into the PTO's bank account to cover the
difference, according to a police report.
Mongan said the bank called a week later because Beni's check had bounced.
Mongan began her own investigation and told police that Beni in one instance
recorded $14.80 in the checkbook register, while the same check cleared the bank
for $5,000 and went directly to Beni.
Officer Tracy Goodnight took the initial report. He said Mongan thinks more
money could be missing because she could not find a record of $2,000 that Beni
said the PTO made at an auction.
According to Goodnight, Tavares Elementary Principal Caroline Kennedy told the
officer that she confronted Beni, who initially denied the accusation but then
offered to stop by the school and repay $11,000.
Beni and her husband, Nick Beni, and their three children moved to Lake County
in 2001.
The couple opened their deli at 219 E. Burleigh Blvd. (U.S. Highway 441) in May,
naming it after Nick Beni's father, Butch, and using many of the same recipes
from a deli they ran in New York. Nick Beni was disabled in an electrical
accident before they opened the deli, so Linda Beni did most of the day-to-day
work, and Nick Beni made the homemade mozzarella.
She was released from Lake County Jail after posting $7,000 bond hours after her
arrest.
Erin Cox can be reached at [email protected] or 352-742-5926.
Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel
Source:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-larrest0306nov03,0,5969699.st
ory
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Comments:
The above example describes a volunteer "PTO" organization that is separate from the schools
(which I confirmed with school and district staff). The fraud is a result of common
internal accounting controls that are missing. One source said that the national PTO headquarters has
recommended internal control procedures and it seems this local PTO group ignored
them. (i.e. having someone else reconcile the checking account, and
requiring two signatures on a check...). Also, a District Finance manager
said the District is not allowed to provide advice to the PTO's because that
would be superceding the fiscal procedures specified by the PTO National office.
So, the Sentinel did not make it clear about the separation between the District
and the PTO, and the fraud was a PTO issue, not a District responsibility.
In this case, I am on the District's side if they want to complain to the
Sentinel about the inaccurate headline and implied School malfeasance. Most
headlines are written by different people than the article's author, and editors
should have verified who was responsible for the checking account. The article
writer implied that School Management was responsible by quoting the Principal,
when none of the School or District staff were responsible for the checking
account. The Sentinel needs to publish a clarification.
Posted Nov. 6th, 2006 at: http://webworks.typepad.com/lakecountyfiscalrangers/
vj
