Crime & Safety
East Norriton School Employee Embezzles $579K From School: DA
The woman used the school's money for family vacations to London, New York, and Los Angeles, as well as meals and car rentals, police said.
EAST NORRITON, PA — A senior administrator at a private school in Montgomery County stole more than half a million dollars in school funds and used them for international family vacations, restaurant meals, Amazon purchases, and more, authorities aid.
Katherine Paprocka, 36, of Paoli, who worked for Penn Christian Academy in East Norriton, faces numerous charges, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
“This is a reminder that every non-profit organization needs to have checks on any employee who has access to its funds so more than one person has control and oversight of the monetary activity," District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement.
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The thefts occurred across the period of more than a year, from July 2020 to Dec. 2021, police said.
One of the school's donors grew suspicious over funding irregularities and commissioned her own private investigation, which she later shared with police, the DA's office said. Among other issues, when the school board had questioned a $62,000 payment from the school to Paprocka's credit card, Paprocka only provided about $12,000 in expenses, police said.
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A further analysis of data from banks, credit cards, and school records, revealed that Paprocka had taken about $579,000 from the school, according to the DA's office. She did it by assuming the identities and forging the signatures of several school employees and volunteers, obtaining credit cards for them and filing expense reports, authorities said.
In addition to vacations to places like London, New York, and Los Angeles, Paprocka used the money for car rentals, clothes, and in-vitro fertilization treatments, police said.
Charges against her include dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, forgery, theft by deception, theft of services, and related counts.
Paprocka was unable to make $99,000 bail and was book at Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 19.
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