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DISTRICT FINDS $884,000 THEFT

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 9:15 AM CDT

Formal charges were filed Tuesday against an employee of the Pine Bluff School District who allegedly prepared bogus invoices and received payments of more than $884,000 from local and federal funds.

Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple charged Lynda King, 39, of 813 W. 24th Ave., with 576 counts of second-degree forgery and 576 counts of theft of property. The charges stemmed from an investigation that began April 7 when Dalrymple’s office was contacted by school district officials who reported the alleged improprieties.

“The district picked up on this and brought it to us themselves,” Dalrymple said. “It wasn’t something that came out of an audit.”

“Our finance director and I discovered something that just didn’t look right,” Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Frank Anthony said. “We checked it out and immediately contacted Steve Dal-

rymple’s office, who took it from there.

“I’m saddened by these incidents of the apparent misuse of public funds, federal and state dollars that were meant to educate the children of this community,” Anthony added. “I’m also saddened for this young lady’s family, because something like this is a terrible burden for them to bear.”

The investigation was conducted by the Pine Bluff police, assisted by multiple agents from the U.S. Department of Education, and the state Division of Legislative Audit, and included numerous bank records that were obtained under subpoena from Simmons First National Bank, Pine Bluff National Bank and Bank of America.

“In this last month we’ve been working with Prosecutor Steve Dalrymple and following the advice of our district attorney, Spencer Robinson,” Anthony said. “We’ve been working with Pine Bluff police detectives, legislative auditors and investigators from the U.S. Department of Education and we’re sharing the information we have with them, and in the end, we expect justice to be served.”

King was accompanied by attorney Bryan Achorn of the Robinson Law Firm when she surrendered to police detectives Tuesday afternoon, and was taken to the county detention center where she will be held in lieu of a $100,000 cash only bond. She could appear in court for arraignment this afternoon before Circuit Judge Berlin Jones, who was assigned the case.

Twenty-five of the theft of property counts were for amounts of less than $500, another 502 for amounts between $500.01 and $2,500, and the remaining 49 for amounts totaling $2,500 or more over a more than seven year period, beginning Jan. 10, 2001, and continuing through March 20, 2008, the criminal informations filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court reported.

The total amount of money involved was $884,711.96, Dalrymple said, from both local and federal sources.

“There was a significant amount of federal money involved, so we have contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office but the charges will be handled at the state level,” he said.

Dalrymple would not comment on the specific nature of the charges but in a letter Anthony sent to King on April 7, Anthony said “you have prepared purchase orders and requested payments totaling in excess of $100,000 for the 2007-2008 school year for what appeared to be a fictitious vendor.”

King was suspended from her position April 4, and recommended for termination by Anthony, who said Tuesday that King had 25 days to appeal that termination recommendation.

“I think the 25th day was yesterday (Monday) but this is something the board would have to do and unless we convene a special meeting of the board, it will be taken up at the next regular board meeting,” Anthony said. The board is scheduled to meet May 20.

Dalrymple said the investigation is continuing, and federal investigators are currently working with local authorities in an effort to trace the funds that were expended.

“This action went totally against the character traits I have tried to teach and model during my 9 years here,” Anthony said.

He said the district can expect to recover no more than $250,000 under a surety bond on King.

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