A former employee of a school district in the St. Louis area has admitted in court that she embezzled $1.6 million from the district.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that from July 2006 to October 2016, Angela Huskey, 51, of DeSoto, Mo., stole funds from the Grandview R-2 School District near Hillsboro, Mo. She pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Finneran says Huskey began working for the district in 1996, became an administrative assistant in 2002 and the business manager in 2009. She also served as board secretary and treasurer.
In court, Huskey admitted that she embezzled no less than $1.6 million from the school district while working there. She falsified the district’s records to conceal her crimes. In some cases, she concealed her embezzlement by inflating the reported wages for other district employees, causing those people to pay excess federal taxes. As a result, those individuals paid $13,368.28 in income taxes they did not in fact owe.
During a Dec. 21 special meeting, the school board voted to reject Huskey’s resignation and terminate her employment, meeting minutes show. She initially was placed on paid administrative leave; that later was changed to unpaid leave while an audit was conducted, board records show.
Superintendent Matt Zoph posted a note on the district’s website stating that the district hired an outside audit firm after it became aware of possible irregularities. It then gave the audit results to federal investigators and “fully cooperated” during their prosecution.
“The District remains committed to ensuring Mrs. Huskey is held accountable for her actions and that it is fully compensated for this substantial loss,” the statement said.
Huskey is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 13.
