Woman accused of theft from school denies charges
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- A woman accused of misusing funds at a Christian school where she worked denies the accusations against her, her attorney said in a statement Thursday.
Katherine Paprocka, a former administrator at Penn Christian Academy in East Norriton, is accused of misusing funds to pay for vacations, restaurant meals, Amazon purchases and in-vitro fertilization treatments, the Montgomery County District Attorney's office said Wednesday.
Paprocka, 36, faces 29 felony counts related to the theft of $579,000 from the school and businesses that worked with the school.
Her attorney Martin Mullaney sent in a statement to CBS Philadelphia Thursday:
Katie maintains her innocence and she looks forward to addressing the allegations at trial.
Katie looks forward to telling her side of the story.
Katie categorically denies stealing any money from Penn Christian Academy.
Paprocka was arrested and later released on unsecured bail, Mullaney said.
According to the DA's office and a criminal complaint, police and county detectives found that Paprocka, 36, forged signatures of other school employees and volunteers on paperwork, obtained credit cards in their names and claimed to lenders and other companies that she was the owner of the school.
But as a nonprofit, Penn Christian Academy does not have an owner, the DA's office says.
According to a criminal complaint, a school donor hired an outside accountant to look at the school's books. The accountant noted that "in all his years as an accountant, he has never seen a business entity use so many bank accounts and so many payroll companies in a short amount of time" as the school did, the complaint says.
The accountant estimated in June that the school's accounts to vendors, staff and the IRS were $1.2 million in the red.
The document quotes other staff members who spoke to investigators and said they hadn't been paid for some weeks of work. Some left their jobs because they hadn't been paid and said they are still owed money by the school.
While the school experienced payroll issues, Paprocka was setting school money aside for herself, a criminal complaint alleges. She's accused of spending school money on in-vitro fertilization treatments and vacations to London and Clearwater, Florida.