Bookkeeper for metro-east school district indicted on federal embezzling charges
A bookkeeper for a metro-east school was indicted in federal court Tuesday on charges she embezzled money intended for the district’s activities fund.
Linda J. Johnson, 57, of Waterloo, faces three counts of theft from Dupo Community Unit School District 196, where she worked. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and be fined up to a quarter-million dollars.
According to records in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Johnson was a “long-term” employee of District 196, working in the superintendent’s office
Dupo schools Superintendent Kelly Carpenter confirmed Johnson was employed by District 196 from 1993 to 2022. Criminal charges say she handled payroll, bookkeeping and making bank transactions.
Carpenter said “discrepancies in certain district fund accounts and deposits” handled by Johnson were noticed in October of 2022 and the board of education initiated an investigation.
“Due to the severity of the fund discrepancies, the Board of Education referred the matter to the St. Clair County State’s Attorney and the Federal Bureau of Investigations,” Carpenter said in an statement emailed to the BND. “The Board of Education worked tirelessly to investigate and resolve the issues that came to light regarding the District’s finances and expenditures and has handed the matter over to the authorities for consideration.”
According to the federal indictment, the district held an activities account at Commerce Bank for funds intended for use with student clubs, after-school programs, yearbook, cheerleading, dance, sports teams and other things.
Johnson is accused of not depositing the full amount of money received for those activities and, instead, prepared phony deposit slips that omitted cash donations, which she allegedly kept for herself, the criminal charges state.
The estimated value of funds “knowingly embezzled” by Johnson, the charges allege, are estimated at more than $10,000.
“When individuals steal funds from school districts, they selfishly place themselves above the students, faculty and community as a whole,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe through a statement.
Because the Dupo school district receives grants and other benefits from the U.S. government, the alleged embezzlement is being prosecuted as a federal crime.
A statement from the Dupo school district regarding this case is expected this afternoon.
The FBI Springfield Field Office and the Dupo Police Department are leading the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Weinhoeft is prosecuting the case.
