By Nicole Walton
Cooks, MI – State Police from the Manistique Post are investigating the embezzlement of more than $800,000 from the Big Bay de Noc School District.
On January 12th office staff discovered unauthorized checks written to the district's business manager. She was relieved of her duties and Superintendent John Peterson notified police. It was discovered the business manager had taken more than $100,000 of school funds per year over the past eight years. She allegedly manufactured invoices and altered cancelled checks to conceal the scheme. Officials say the embezzlement may have started even earlier in her 18-year tenure with the district.
Police say the business manager acted alone, but due to her recent untimely death it will be difficult to determine how much was actually embezzled.
Big Bay de Noc is working with the Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District to reconcile its accounts, and is exploring options for realigning its financial duties.