Substitute Teacher Overpaid By $54K, Refuses To Return It: Stamford PD

STAMFORD, CT — A Stamford substitute teacher was arrested on March 7 after she was overpaid by more than $54,000 and then refused to give the money back, according to an arrest warrant.

Shalyn Coley, 24, of Stamford, was charged with first-degree larceny and given a bond of $250,000. She was arraigned in Stamford Superior Court on Wednesday and her bond was reduced to a promise to appear.

Officer Willie Guilford of the Stamford Police Department said in an arrest warrant he met on Jan. 25 with a Stamford Public Schools Human Resources employee who reported that Coley was overpaid by the city of Stamford Payroll Department in the amount of $54,390 for two days of work over the pay period between Oct. 31, 2022 and Nov. 13, 2022, and that she was refusing to return the money.

At the time of the police report, Coley's pay rate was $105 per day, Guilford said in the arrest warrant. Coley was hired on Nov. 20, 2020.

A paystub for Coley showed that after taxes, $27,111.03 was direct deposited into her bank account, the warrant said.

"It should be noted that from the date of that deposit there was well over 100 transactions listed on the account, many of which were conducted at Stamford businesses," Guilford said.

In email communications between Coley and Stamford Public School officials, Coley said she contacted her bank and that they wouldn't allow her to reverse the deposit, Guilford wrote in the arrest warrant.

"Coley further stated that the City has to reverse the transaction on their end," the warrant said.

Both parties later came to an agreement to have Coley drop off a check for the amount wrongly deposited into her account, but she never did, the warrant said.

A search warrant executed on Coley's bank account on Feb. 8 showed $19,863.89, which was seized by police, Guilford said.

Guilford said Coley has "failed to take any reasonable measure" to return the money.

According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website, Coley is next scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on May 8.