Employee defrauds Edmonton Catholic schools of over $200K through invoice, credit card scheme
CBC
A former Edmonton Catholic School Division (ECSD) employee has admitted to defrauding the school division for over $200,000, billing for work in family members' names while buying supplies for her horse business.
Earlier this month, Sandra Romanyk, 58, pleaded guilty in Edmonton's Court of King's Bench to one count of fraud over $5,000 for defrauding ECSD of $218,588 over a six-year period.
The division paid out $198,901 to Romanyk and her family members until a final, fraudulent invoice for $19,687 made out to Romanyk's equine business, Romp N' Roll Acres, in June 2015 triggered an investigation.
Romanyk's daughter Marianne Lokmer, 36, also worked at the division and pleaded pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 for her role in the scheme. On March 1, she was handed an 18-month conditional sentence, and ordered to pay over $54,000 in restitution to ECSD.
Romanyk is expected to be sentenced in June, and has agreed to pay $144,514 in restitution to the school division.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Romanyk worked for the division for 28 years before she was fired with cause on June 26, 2015.
At the time, she was the Early Childhood Program Unit Funding (PUF) administrative co-ordinator for the Genesis Early Learning Centre, and oversaw the program's operating expenses.
PUF funding supports early intervention for children with disabilities and delays as they enter the school system
Because of her position, Romanyk was able to run various schemes that resulted in the division paying out various sums to herself, her husband, her son-in-law and Romp N' Roll.
Between 2011 and 2015, Romanyk prepared 58 invoices to pay her husband, Jerry Romanyk, a total of $93,585 for manual labour he did for at Genesis program sites.
While he did do some work, she admits she inflated both rates and hours, and at times prepared invoices despite no work having been done.
Division rules specified that an employee wasn't allowed to approve or submit invoices for work done by a family member.
On all but one invoice, Romanyk forged her supervisor's signature and submitted them to accounts payable. She then picked up the cheques and deposited them in a bank account she shared with her husband.
Her husband died in a workplace accident in October 2017.
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