Former president of charter school parent group charged with stealing $58,000
VALPARAISO IN Oct 5 2019 — A former president of the parent advisory council at the Discovery Charter School in Porter has been charged with stealing nearly $58,000 from the group.
Lisa Apato, 47, is charged with a level 5 felony count of theft, which carries a potential sentence of one to six years, according to court documents.
She is accused of taking the money by slowly withdrawing $35,105 over numerous occasions and failing to deposit another $22,842 from several fundraisers and reimbursements, charging documents say.
The theft was reported to police two years ago.
A treasurer for the parent group told police that when she took office in July 2016, she began asking Apato, who was then president, for access to the financial records, police said.
“Apato, however, would always come up with an excuse as to why the records were unavailable,” according to the charge.
It was not until August 2017, once Apato left office, that the treasurer gained access to the records and noticed missing funds, police said.
Apato is accused of withdrawing money from the group’s bank account 19 times using checks and 17 times using an ATM card, police said. Police say she also used the ATM card on 32 occasions to buy items for her personal use or for personal expenses.
Her failure to deposit funds into the group’s bank account dates back to December 2015 and occurred on six occasions, according to charging information.
It appeared that Apato had not yet been booked into the Porter County Jail by early Thursday afternoon.
Discovery School Superintendent Ernesto Martinez told The Times in November 2017 that the PAC is distinct from the school and no school money was missing.
“PAC is a volunteer not-for-profit organization comprised of school parents whose mission is to support and enhance the educational experiences of the school’s students by providing financial support for programs funded outside of the annual school budget,” Martinez said in a prepared statement at the time. “All parents who are members of PAC are volunteers, and all PAC volunteers must undergo an annual criminal background check.”
The missing funds were discovered when the group was preparing its annual budget and planning fundraising events, he said.
nwitimes.com
