A Pennsylvania school administrator allegedly embezzled $600,000 from the Christian private school she worked to fund in-vitro fertilization treatments, family vacations and rental properties, authorities claimed Wednesday.
Katherine Paprocka, 36, was charged with multiple felony counts including forgery, theft by deception, deceptive or fraudulent business practices and other related charges after Penn Christian Academy notified authorities about financial irregularities on the school’s books, the New York Post reported.
Penn Christian Academy Senior Administrator charged with stealing $579,000 from the private school she is now longer employed by after the theft. Katherine Paprocka,36,of Paoli, mused all that cash for in-vitro fertilization treatment,family vacations to London&more. @fox29philly pic.twitter.com/bjLkUTaIgW
— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) December 14, 2022
Among the irregularities were regular payments made to a crowdfunding platform as well as three other small-business lenders, according to a press release from Montgomery County District Attorney’s office. Each loan was made in Paprocka’s name and listed her as “Senior Administrator and Owner” or “Executive Director and Owner” of the academy, though the school is a non-profit and has no ownership, the release stated. (RELATED: DOJ Charges 47 People For Stealing $250 Million From Pandemic Children’s Food Fund)
Paprocka was also unable to account for more $60,000 on her American Express card after submitting claims for approximately $12,000 in school-related expenses, prompting the school to alert authorities who found more irregularities in their subsequent investigation, the release stated.
“Through interviews, analysis of data from banks, credit cards and school records, the investigation found that Paprocka defrauded Penn Christian Academy, its employees and payroll/billing companies of $579,651.89,” the release reported.
Authorities state Paprocka was able to do this by stealing the identities and forging signatures of “multiple employees and volunteers” at the school, even obtaining credit cards in the names of employees “without their knowledge or consent,” the release continued.
“Paprocka used the more than a half million dollars of stolen funds for family vacations to London, New York and Florida, as well as for other activities including rental property payments, car rentals, clothing purchases, restaurant meals, Amazon purchases and payments for in-vitro fertilization medical treatments,” the district attorney’s office accused in their statement.
Paprocka denies the charges and is looking forward to telling her side of the story at trial, her attorney Martin Mullaney told CBS Philadelphia Thursday.