An investigation by the Office of the Auditor General has resulted in a State Grand Jury indictment of Tonnie Rae Pugh, a former attendance secretary for the Joseph City Unified School District. Pugh is accused of stealing $40,436 in District funds.
Pugh was indicted on charges of Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, Violation of Duties of a Custodian of Public Monies, and Theft.
Auditor General criminal indictment overview:
The District hired Ms. Pugh in 1991 as a special education aide, and in July 1999 she became the high school attendance secretary. In this position, Ms. Pugh received and deposited monies related to student club fundraisers, ticket sales for athletic events, dances and plays, yearbook purchases, and class-related fees. Additionally, she served intermittently as District wrestling tournament director in which capacity she received and deposited athletic event tournament entry fees from participating school districts. Ms. Pugh resigned in February 2018 after District officials questioned her about irregularities in her bank deposits. Ms. Pugh acknowledged to District officials and later to us that she “borrowed” District money to pay personal bills.
From July 2011 through January 2018, Ms. Pugh failed to deposit in a District bank account $40,436 of cash payments she received from students, parents, and other individuals for purposes such as student club fundraisers, athletic events, yearbook purchases, and class-related fees.
Instead, Ms. Pugh admittedly “borrowed” these monies for her personal use.
To conceal her actions, Ms. Pugh deposited check payments that covered the amount of cash she misappropriated, making it deceptively appear as if her deposits balanced to District receipt records. As shown in the graphic, the check payments Ms. Pugh substituted for the cash she misappropriated were often those she received in her capacity as wrestling tournament director. Ms. Pugh was solely responsible for collecting, recording, and depositing wrestling and other tournament entry fees she received from participating school districts. However, she failed to issue receipts and record the payments in the Entry Fee Fund. Because no one at the District office monitored the Entry Fee Fund or ensured receipts were issued, Ms. Pugh was able to conceal about 70 percent of her alleged cash theft with tournament entry fee checks.
Additionally, from July 2011 through December 2017, Ms. Pugh allegedly falsified 92 District records. Specifically, she falsely understated cash receipts and falsely inflated check receipts on 73 District deposit records she prepared, making it deceptively appear as if she deposited the appropriate amount of both cash and checks. Ms. Pugh also prepared 19 District receipts with false dates and omitted that the payments were made in cash, thus helping to obscure her alleged misappropriation and making it deceptively appear as if all receipts in total were appropriately deposited.