A center college trainer at Mount Ogden Junior Excessive was arrested for investigation of fraud and theft whereas utilizing the college’s tax exempt Sam’s Membership card. Kristin Murphy, Deseret Information
A center college trainer in Ogden College District is underneath investigation accused of committing communications fraud and theft with the college's tax-exempt Sam's Membership card.
Mount Ogden Junior Excessive College trainer Elizabeth Galbraith was positioned on paid administrative depart on Jan. 11 "when considerations arose about charitable donations because of inside overview," Ogden College District stated in an announcement.
"This led Ogden College District and Mount Ogden Junior Excessive College to conduct an inside investigation. Subsequently, a regulation enforcement investigation was initiated. The worker submitted their resignation from Ogden College District on Feb. 2, 2023. The district and the college will proceed to cooperate with regulation enforcement of their efforts. We aren't at liberty to touch upon the prison investigation."
A police reserving affidavit says Galbraith is underneath investigation for using the college's tax-exempt standing for private purchases, for scheming a whole bunch of dollars in gross sales tax avoidance, and for preserving charitable proceeds for her personal use.
The affidavit says officers have been made conscious of a discrepancy within the state tax-exempt Sam's Membership card utilized by Mount Ogden Junior Excessive on dates when the college had not approved purchases and from completely different places, indicating potential fraud.
Police obtained surveillance footage of Galbraith "illegally using the college's tax-exempt card on private purchases" on the Riverdale Sam's Membership, in keeping with the affidavit. Officers then reviewed receipts and stated they seen numerous private purchases made have been paid for in reward playing cards.
Galbraith is the only handler of cash for the charity group Change for Kids, which accepts giant monetary donations from native companies for households in want throughout Christmas. Police stated they contacted the households who have been recipients of the donations and located lots of them had obtained half of what they have been listed as receiving or obtained nothing in any respect.
Throughout an interview with police and college district officers, Galbraith acknowledged she "by chance threw away" between $8,000 to $13,000 in reward playing cards whereas on Ambien, a prescription sleep capsule, the affidavit says.
"After additional investigation ... it was found that over $21,000 that was in Elizabeth's possession is unaccounted for," the affidavit says.
Police stated they consider Galbraith used the cardboard — realizing it was tax-exempt — to scheme a whole bunch of dollars in gross sales tax avoidance. The scheme was perpetuated additional by Galbraith accepting donations and solely partially giving them to households, the affidavit says.
The college district stated they activated the Disaster Response Workforce to supply help for college students and staff who could also be experiencing misery.
"We'll proceed with steps to make sure that all monetary discrepancies associated to this case are resolved and that each one donation recipients obtain the complete quantity meant by donors," the college district's assertion stated.
Galbraith was arrested on Jan. 27 for investigation of felony communication fraud and felony theft.