Treasurer Of Seminole HS Booster Club Accused Of Stealing $15,000

SEMINOLE, FL — The treasurer of the Seminole High School football team booster club has been arrested after being accused of lifting $15,000 from the booster club's bank account.

On Thursday, detectives with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrested Elise Michelle Minzer, 46, of 8140 129th St. N., Seminole, and charged her with one count of scheming to defraud in the amount of $20,000 to $50,000.

Detectives were notified by the school's administrators that about $15,000 was missing from the high school football team booster club's bank account and several vendors had contacted the school to complain about bounced checks from the booster club.

When the administrators conducted an audit, they found money missing from the bank account.

They also learned that Minzer, who was treasurer from Feb. 28, 2019 to April 30, had applied for and received a debit card for the booster club account, which is against school policy.

When they began investigating, detectives discovered more than 100 unauthorized transactions on the debit card including airline tickets, liquor, car repairs, cable bills and several monthly car payments.

One purchase for tickets to the Sugar Bowl were confirmed with photos of her at the game that were posted on Facebook.

Other her nearly two years as treasurer, detectives said Minzer stole about $43,000 through unauthorized debit card transactions and wired $21,000 into the account after the schools began receiving complaints about bounced checks.

The booster club lost a total of $22,000.

During an interview with detectives, Minzer admitted to using the debit card for unauthorized personal uses.

She is being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.